Cyril the Wolf

Turn down those high hats. I think I like it for the most part... the only comment I may have is that the bass could probably use a bit of a cut at 80 hz and below. Just to keep it from killing the kick drum. Love it other than that.

Very nice arrangement. The guitar solo was pretty epic too. The bass.... I could recognize some of the eastern style of arrangement. The reason I say that, is because when I listen to certain J-Rock bands they tend to have bass runs that flow up in a particular way. No offense at all, just a stylistic thing I've noticed. I enjoyed.

I can help with teh bassline. I dunno what exactly you are looking for, but I know how to hold down teh groove. I really like some of the ideas though. The bass does rather... not work for what the rest is doing IMO. It gets kinda weird around 2:00.... Hmm Nice start.

What do you want to do with your acoustic? There are so many options its unreal. To be honest, if you're recording with an acoustic, it's best to use Microphones, I know very few inexpensive guitars that have anything but S*** for sound through their plug. My advice is to get a purely acoustic guitar, practice on it (because its a bit diff. than electric as far as approach) and then get a mic w/ mike stand to test that out. Dreadnaughts are good all arounds, I would suggest a smaller body one for recording though. It tends to sit in the mix better. (though I'm using a $250 Alvarez dreadnaught acoustic right now myself)

I appreciate chiptunes and such but... I like it, could use a little more interp probably, but you may wanna find a J and ask 'em about it. There may be something you can do.

<shamelessplug> http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/113804 </shamelessplug>

Back up your claimz plz. Now that is rather general. Ionian songs are just as good as Aeolian songs (though I must confess I do prefer the latter) it really all depends on if the music is well thought out, not what mode its in. Diminished fifths? You need the tritone to have a good piece of music? Are you being ridiculous or is this just your preference?

You are a gifted writer. Please continue with this story regularly (as I am sure you plan to) becuase this story has me. I'd like to see its conclusion at some point.

Thanks for the advice on the breakdown. As for :22, I was trying to cause confusion... but you may be right, maybe I'll add an extra bar or two of 6/8 before the vocals come in. The breakdown will now be slowed down for ultimate brutality. Sound nice to you? I dunno how much I'll slow it down. Probably whatever is the best that will make it even heavier without losing the energy. That way the lyrics that I have will be better. The layered screams are meant to be chaotic sounding. I was never adding a guitar solo. And they are a tad bit overrated, but cool.

I *was* going to wait until I had another WIP, but I feel its necessary to respond. When I say raw, I mean unpolished in the mix, the drums are currently not separated into different tracks (I use EZDrummer) so I always do that to EQ the kick for more brutality and to add some subtle verb to the snare. Also, if I have enough tracks I try to EQ out the toms too.. The guitar will be completely different sounding, I recently got Amplitube Metal, and it being dedicated for metal really makes a difference. So that's gonna change. Question on the intro and answer to a question. I'm using Edirol Orchestral (for you uranai). Now, I know I have two ways to go about it, should I vary the tempo up so that its more rubato? or should I not do that? Keep in mind that all I want to know is if that's what you mean, if its not then I'll figure out the solution otherwise. Thanks!

Yeah, at the time I was using Amplitube X-Gear, I have better guitar tone now actually, gonna redo this sometime. Haha, yea, precisely what I was thinking. The gay chorus works with the lyrics. Some folks hate it some folks like it. I'm glad you like it, and I wouldn't care if you didn't. Also... maybe... I don't think this song in particular needs a guitar solo, its kinda nice the way it is. Not to say that I don't like guitar solos, most of my other songs do have solos.

I'd like a title like, "Into the Powerplant" or the less subtle "Mandrill in the Powerplant" Or something involving a power plant. Or howabout "The Piano Electric"

Yes. You're exactly on the money.

Zircon, thank you for sharing this with us. Seriously. You rule.

This piece of music... is epic. I blame Nekofrog for me even starting this. The reason I blame him is becuase he is working on a Lufia remix as well, with plot points from Lufia II. Chills went up my spine as I imagined the scene, and realized that this particular piece of music has inspired me a lot since I first beat Lufia II back 9 years ago. The original title is "For the Savior" but I decided to simplify it, as this is a dignified piece, tho hard rocking. What do you think so far? Arrangment tips, sample tips? BLAH BLAH, advice? Anything is good. The bass will be completely different, and the drums will be far less raw. http://cyril.arnoldascher.com/covers/savior.mp3 Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbQL_b18Wzc

I don't know you, and this is the first day I've heard this, but I agree with the three comments above.

I just had a teary fangasm... you bastard. > Gar, the ending of this game makes me so damn sad... I love the creativity that often results from such near depression, but still. Nice job Neko, you bastage. I also am impressed with the mixing, but I'll have to listen to it when I'm a bit less emotional.

I like the verb in general, but one thing about 1:24, too much verb on the bass. I can't even hear the articulations! Hmm... your kick drum at 5:02 doesn't punch out enough. I'd recommend cutting below 80 Hz on the bass instrument there. If that doesn't seem to produce a satisfactory sound, then try cutting some of the low on the kick too. yeah, I like hte sounds, but there is just too much low end, it gets rather muddy. The bass has no definition, boost about 500 hz, or find a way to give it just a little more attack. Its a rather dull sounding remix, not becuase of the arrangment, but rather becuase of the fact that there is soo much more in the way of bass than high frequencies. Hopefully my suggestions will help you out. As far as the arrangement? Solid IMO, I dunno if its too liberal or not, but I can sense the original in a lot of yoru motifs, its just really well arranged. I love that little imagery thing you gave, it really fits the bill.

First I have to say, you have one kickass intro going there. seriously. Awesomely enjoyable. Its got a lot of original twists, so your arrangement is good (provided you continue that through the entire completed remix) I'm ignoring the "holes" you mentioned for now. ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION [ ] Too conservative - sticks too close to the source [ ] Too liberal - not enough connections to the source (too much original writing) [ ] Too much direct sampling from original game audio [ ] Borrows heavily from non-source material (eg. a theme from a movie) PRODUCTION [ ] Too loud [ ] Too quiet [ ] Low-quality samples [ ] Unrealistic sequencing [ ] Generic/cliche sound choices [ ] Drums have no energy [ ] Overcompressed (pumping/no dynamics) [ ] Mixing is muddy (eg. too many sounds in the same range) STRUCTURE [ ] Lacks coherence overall (no "flow") [ ] Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough) [ ] Pace too plodding [ ] Too repetitive [ ] Too short [ ] Abrupt ending I have one question that I probably already know the answer to. I really like the sound that those guitars produce, are you planning on changing them to real guitar? If you don't change the rhythm guitar, I'd personally be okay with that given the fact that they create and interesting sound that would be hard to reproduce given a live player. though you may wanna cut some lows from the sound. That lead guitar should be changed at the end/ Far too synthy and by the 3rd listen through I was desiring an actual lead guitar on there. Please tell me you're going to change that. My view, so far so good. I dunno about the choir samples. They sound fine to me, but... There is a problem with the bass strings at :12 they kinda cut off awkwardly. Keep working on this man, you got great stuff so far.

As a wise man once said, "I love the shop. Oh so much, I got there every day!" Therefore, this song rules, regardless of production.

Adding on to what Roz said (becuase I hate being redundant) This song could benefit from some ensemble writing, to make it less repetitive and junk. For one, if I were a bass player, even in this style, and even as much of a KISS fan I was, I would fill a little bit more. Holding down the root is cool for the bass, and I really like the fact that the bass does follow the kick quite closely, but... I dunno, the rhythm section really really gets boring, and something simple as fixing that up could really improve this mix! 1) Bass needs some fills, there are spots where there is nothing going on that the bass could do a few passing tones to pick up the next section. Popular technique for a reason, and if possible some bass slides would be nice. 2) Rhythm guitar: While keeping just the simple eighth note pattern is cool, it'd be sweet if at some point, to shake things up that the rhythm guitar follows the bass with its pattern. That could add some energy and keep this from being too repetitive. Now that my ensemble gripes are taken care of: 3) The ending... isn't really powerful enough for this kind of style. There's a lot of ways you could do it, have it hit the root several times in quick succession, more crashes, that kind of thing. Chords on bass can work, if you do it carefully. 4) Something I noticed after the guitar solo, and in the beginning, some severe compression pumping. Easily fixable. 5) If you really want to change this up, the chord progression is fairly straight forward so you could try two things: a) chord substitution: in the home key, substitute a iii with a iv, and that sort of thing. That may be a poor example, but still. chord addition: create more motion by adding a few "passing chords" (my term) to the mix and really shake things up. All in all I like this mix, I really do, it just needs to be expanded and polished... I think it's mixed and balanced well, its just got the problem of too much compression. Take into consideration my suggestions and Roz's (and maybe other people's) and then find a J and see what they think! (A Process that I decidedly {and stupidly} skip)

really? Wow... Uh, I dunno. haha. Anyway, sounds nice in my mind. Other than the suggestions that Roz posted. That guy has some awesome ears for what the J's like and what needs to be done, listen to him. ;D

What do you use to "master" your tracks? Just curious, becuase what I use automatically adds the (master) when you export it. The lead seems a little loud in some places, in my opinion. I enjoyed the piano breaks, and I think they add a lot to the mix. I love the psy-trance-like bends and stuff you have going on in the finall section, though the lead is still too loud in my mind, everything else seems to be really in the background in comparison to it. My only gripe actually, personally. I'm not a J tho, so if you can find one of them get their feedback.

O_O The difference is astounding. Good choice on making the synth bass higher and more blendy with everything. Gives it a more ethereal feel. I normally wouldn't like the reverb you have on the glitched percussion, but I think I like the way it gives an ICY feel to the rest of the track.... hmm... I don't have any crits, unfortunately (becuase I'm sure someone better will find some) but I was astounded by the difference. Good work.