Splunkle

Nice nice. I really like how the IDM drums just fit the song - there isn't a whole "AND NOW SPASTIC CRAZY DRUMS" bit, its just "hey, this is all filtery changy! neato!" and I think thats cool. The song meanders somewhat without really reaching a climax, but since its somewhat ambient thats all good, assuming you were shooting for that. I can't really think of much else to say - good job!

There is only one way to find out if you like the workflow of a program, and that is to use it! So reccomend going forth and getting as many demos as you can - FL has a free demo, that lets you do anything but save the file I know other programs have demos as well, but I'm not sure what the restrictions on those demos are.

I stand happily corrected!

ARRRRRGGGGGHHH CLIPPING ALL OVER THE PLACE. You really should know better than this, man =P Well, to be technical, not exactly clipping, but a very similar sort of distortion nonetheless. Gander at this: This is from the ZOMG LOUD part of your song. Essentially, you are compressing so hard that your celing, instead of being -0.3 dB, like it should be, is more like -1 dB. When a song is this loud you need every dB of space you can get. Which brings me to my second point - whyis it so GORRAM loud? I checked 10 seconds worth of the loud part of the song, and it came in at just under -6 dB RMS. WAY TOO LOUD. My loud parts are like, -10 dB RMS, tops. Now I know I prefer soft compression, but this is beyond hot - this is burnt. In an un-good way. So, Splunkle's big huge reccomendations: - turn that stuff down! Massively down! - Compress less! let the mix have a bit of space - If you want to keep the dynamic range for that explosion of noise at 1:56ish, just turn down the volume for the first part (especially on the non piano parts). Suckers will then turn their volume up, and then they get all blown away by all the awesome. Thats all I got for now!

In your piano roll, down the bottom there should be a little mini event editor - by default it views velocity, but you can edit lots of things here. click on velocity, set it to "channel volume", and draw a fadeout shape. EDIT: now with pictures!

Soooo... whats the plan for the next show? I suppose it will be the usual, but with the new show programme, right?

While automating the tempo in Sonar or whatever does at least allow you to automate the tempo, you do still get some crazy ass shit coming out of the delay unit. Solution - don't use the delay unit! Or get it to shut while you are changing tempo. Or just use that shit, man. USE IT.

066 is totally the most sickenly cute episode of VGDJ ever. Also, next time you do a videocast, and need to do something silly while the music is playing, you should play charades.

If I remember my EQing correctly, mud can be lessened sometimes by cutting around 200-1000 Hz. That tends to reduce a whole lot of frequencies that interfere - however, some instruments sound like ass without those frequencies! The solution, of course, is to EQ everything individually, and put cuts on that range for everything that has a presence there that doesn't need it, and try to minimise the number of insturments playing at the same that use that range. Of course, while this solves many muds, it might not get rid of your mudiness! If that doesn't work, make sure you aren't over compressing, or limiting, or using a saturation-style plugin to much. Try hauling back on all your mixer volume levels. Mute all your insturments, and bring them back one at a time to see just when the mud starts.

Fruity Keyboard Controller is a way of controlling settings via notes. I suggest you consult the help file for more infomation - once you know about linking automation, the function of it will become apparant. =P

Not in this modern age of the virtual studio. Lots of people only use the computer, and produce all sorts of stuff - from straight EDM through to classical symphony type stuff. Yes! Allow me to introduce you to the fantastic world of KVR. Fruity does come with some preety neat synths though, and it pays to learn how to use them. As a general rule of thumb, its better to know how to use a few synths really well, than to have 15,000 and only use the presets. This is called sampling. It may be illegal, depending on just where on the planet you live, but its also a time honored tradition in electronic styles of music. I'm no samplining guru, so I shan't talk about the hows and whys, as I would most probably be incorrect.

Underthesun: Dude, read the entire thread before posting! 3 posts above you I posted the link to the new version. I've uploaded the new one, as well now, so: New version, with keys solo. Old version, without keys solo.

Why can't people pronounce Melbourne correctly? =/ Side note: Melbourne was founded by a Mr. Batman.

Very nice stuff. Particuly like the breakdown at 1:25, but then it went back to the same old. thing we had beforehand, before moving on rather quickly. Breaks are for transitions, yo. Also, would be better if the ending busted out into some new awesome. That last 15 seconds or so is like this: "I'm going to end the song soon." and I'm all like "kay" and then the song is like "AHAHAHA! gotcha! Buildup to something new!" And I'm like "=D" and then the song is like "Just kidding" and I'm all "D=".

The tone sounds messy. That probably means too much distortion, but it could be something else about the tone. I woudl suggest either hauling back on the distortion, or busting out some hardcore EQ.

okay, this really needs to be cleaner in terms of production. But before delving into that, some other stuff: - I think there were few off notes in there - make sure your playing is spot on when you do the final take, as the judges won't allow sloppy playing. - From what I remember of the original, this is similar but interpretive enough, I think. I don't have the original with me, though, so don't take my word for it. - Chessey voice clips from the game generally don't go down well unless they are funny or fit into the track very well indeed - Your drum arrangment is VERY boring. Try some more cymbals, rather than just the hats all the time. Also vary up the beat - move the kick drums around a little, and occassionally add another snare or something. Go wild - if this is metal feel free to just go absolutely batshit insane on the drums. Now onto production: - Low end is muddy. You bass is comflicting with the kick drum alot. Mess with the EQ settings for each to make sure they each occupy their own little part of the bass spectrum, and no where else. You shoudl also probably up the kick's high end EQ, so the click of the drums comes through nice and clear. - The guitars. Firstly, rarely do you pan so heavily left and right - pan them slightly less. Secondly, they are also very messy - particularly when they first come in. I'm no pro guitarist dude, but I think that tone needs working on. =/

The only difference between DX and VST is the way they talk to the host program. For example, Sytrus is a Fruity native plugin, but if you don't have fruity you can use it in another host as either a DXi or a VSTi. A VST is an effect, whereas a VSTi is an instrument. Same deal for DX, I think. You should also note that a VSTi will often simply be called a VST. You use Fruity, which uses VST, VSTi, DX, DXi, Rewire, and probably a whole load of other things as well so don't worry about it too much.

Okay, the thing that is making it go "up and down in both pitch and volume" is the LFO, or Low Frequency Oscillator. Specifically, LFO 1. You see the "depth" setting there? Fiddle with that. To make it go up and down less, move it towards the left. To make it go up and down more, move it towards the right. Also, technically its not moving up and down in pitch. See how there is a button labeled "dest"? That stands for destination. It is what the LFO is controlling. In this case, its controlling the cutoff frequency for filters 1 and 2. Hence the little light lit up next to "Filter 1+2". I know learning all the different controls of synths is confusing at first, so you may not have understood everything I told you. Make sure to read Zircon's tips and tricks part 3, which deals with synths. SuperwaveP8 is also a nice synth to start learning with, because its lays it all out in front of you - no hidden settings screwing with everything. Good Luck!

http://www.tweakheadz.com/EQ_and_the_Limits_of_Audio.html Some nice tips on EQing here. Also some hilarious analogies:

I'll bite. Uploading now, will edit in with a linky once its done. Edit: done.

3 days until the 8th. Well, 1 now, though its probably 2 for you US types.

This totally needs some lyrics. 'Fraid I can't help there, but its damn nice. And without lyrics, I can't really give much feedback beyond "nice, give us some more". =/ Good to see you are putting logic to good use, though

Wow, you really brutalised that piano, didn't you. I'm not really hearing anything to do with the melody here... ah wait, here we go, at 1:33, that etheral synth comes in with the main line... but thats more than a third into the track. Hmmmm. It still seems a bit messy - cut back on that verb and delays some more. I know you really want all the verb and delay to be there when the instrument is exposed, but when evrythign has huge amounts of verb and they are all playing, it gets muddy. I think you might be able to solve this by either automating the FX units - simply turn the delay off, and reduce the amount or decay time on the verb during the crowded bits. EDIT: just re-listened on my speakers, rather then my headphones, and it sounded less muddy. So mayhaps my headphones are boosting speakers that result in muddyness. Probably the mid-range somewhere, 250-1000 Hz I think. Anyways, try playing it on lots and lots of different speakers and enviroments, so you can EQ with precision.

Yeah, but you could probably do that with most subtractive synths. I'm not hating on 3xOsc, its a great little synth at what it does, and a lot nicer to my CPU than most VSTs or Sytrus. But it is overused, and I can't really reccomend it for leads, especially if they are rather exposed in the mix. Also, FL's effects are quite good, though sometimes I miss Scream from Reason. That thing was awesome for screwing with signals. Mind you, I can probably duplicate most of the things it does, but only by using multiple plugins... Scream just made everything more convinient.

FL's included synths are musical blasphemy and will pretty much get you instant rejected. It's not that they're bad in themselves, but that there's been 6 trillion songs made with them, and they sound the same 99% of the time (and can be spotted a mile away). There's only so much one can do with 3 crappy oscillators and an ADSR envelope. I assume you mean just the synths you don't have to pay extra for (unless you got XXL), right? Because Sytrus is the Bomb, and Wasp can make some preety awesome sounds sometimes. Though I do use 3xOsc occasionally, largely for tasks any old subtractive synth can do.