OceansAndrew

listening is down for traditional radio as well; I work at CC (TV department) and constantly rofl at the thrashing the radio division does; constantly shifting (aka firings for not meeting the quota) sales force, perpetually unmet group radio sales goals; Decreased sponsor interest because of decreased listenership; Radio shot itself in the foot with it's short sighted business plan of consolidating every market into a national one, and more labels are panicking, throwing out way more fad groups, trying to cash in on a single album and then cut and run, just to keep things afloat. If it takes off enough for a second album, all the better; it's a happy accident. Things are going to be pretty rocky for the next few years for all musicians, but Zircon has the right idea in diversifying his "product line" beyond the traditional album and related merch, and getting creative. I'm glad to hear that your presets are selling well, though i'm not too surprised; I bought Zebra 2 a few months ago and fucking hate it. It's GUI is a complete mess and all of the included presets sound like detuned ass. If I wasn't so intent on selling it on craigslist or whatever, i'd buy your presets (which sound amazing- it must have been like getting blood from a stone to create though).

Great arrangement, and the rhythms are fantastic throughout, but that guitar sound is no good; a piece like this demands a real nylon string guitar and anything less just won't cut it. Nice percussion writing, though the bass drum could use a little more audible prescience. I can feel it just fine, but can't really hear it. The piano seems kind of cramped and synthetic in it's little corner, give it some delay and a bit of a room sound to make it connect a bit better with the rest of the instruments. great start though i am digging this; it's just going to hinge on getting a good live guitar sound.

atma, seriously, it's the FAC. time to move on.

Have a good weekend, Wingless. Also, happy birthday.

pretty nice work for free samples; The main issues you need to focus on are dynamics. There needs to be more crescendos and decrescendos throughout so it breathes a bit more. Adding some timpani rolls to key areas will help in this regard as well. The high end is a bit underexposed i think, so bringing up a few higher frequencies in the violins and violas (and perhaps some trumpets)will give everything a nicer sheen to it as well. Arrangementwise it doesn't stray too far from being a theme and variations of the melody, which might be an issue with judges. Try to find a few creative ways to mix up the melody a bit, or add a new original section that pays tribute to the original, but doesnt have the specific melody involved. Reverb could stand to come down a bit, but it seems things are decently meshed. Ending isn't there. Overall pretty good, just needs some tweaking.

The strings at the beginning have an annoyingly mushy attack; you are using the wrong sample for the job. The cello is decent, but the string ensemble is no good for this part. Get something with a stronger attack. Drums sound very default and wimpy. It sounds like you want them to drive the track but they don't have the punch of volume they need. Add a stronger gate to the bass drum, and bring up the volume. The part writing is also pretty boring and could use a lot more hi-end stuff; mix up the hats and stuff a little. The straight ahead beat can work with excellent production, but in this case a more interesting beat would help a lot. Synths are also really default sounding, and two dimensional. They need to be widened quite a bit. double some parts and work with panning to thicken the sound. There are weird timing issues throughout with the beat skipping as well, really distracting. Vocal sample at the end is good and the effects used are cool, but it should be at the climax of the song, not at the end where it is winding down. Keep working on this, guys.

The choir take charge at the beginning, but i think it's mainly because there isn't much going on in the high end melody-wise; the frequencies are kind of buried and arent sharp enough; i'd eq a little high end into the lead synth. A lot of the synths used seemed a little lo fi as well; I know you use a lot of free samples, but there are a lot of little tricks you can use to improve sample sounds; subtle doubling of parts, minor delays, more panning. The drums are a little mundane as well, as previously state. The bass drum works alright i think, but the snare needs more velocity shifts, it (and the cymbals and hi hat) is what is really the main issue with the drums; change up those velocities to make it sound more natural. This does have a distinct metroid feel to it, so nice work, it just needs some adjustments. I hope you find the time to give this some polish.

This track could really use some humanization; it's way too mechanical in the bass and drums. They are also way repetitive (both bass and drums), and seemingly on autopilot for most of the track. Halfway through when they fade out, the song itself doesn't really change feel, which kind of implies that they were superfluous to begin with. Give the drums some punch, a stronger, tighter kick and a snappier snare would make them much more interesting, and vary the bass line; have it fit more in the pocket rather than be just something repetitive to fill out some frequencies. The pads are nice, but everything could benefit from some stereo widening; the song elements don't have a defined room sound. The parts are a bit too sterile sounding in their relation to each other, and nothing really breathes. You have a good start, but there's a good amount of work to be done on this before it's worthy of being submitted.

It needs some more humanization is some parts, but you've mentioned that. The biggest issue I see with this mix is the file size is way past the OCR limit of 6 megs, which is instant NO, regardless of mix quality. The other issue is length. It really just goes on and on, and for a dueling piano arrangement, unless you are super into pianos, it's going to get really boring. The bonus here is that by trimming some of the fat on this track, you'll get the file size down as well. The final issue is the level of intensity, which is at maximum or near-maximum for the entire seven-and-a-half minutes. This is also causing me to zone out while listening. It needs to be varied; have some of the sections played softer. I realize this is supposed to be a battle, but the concept of pacing isn't applied as well as it should be. Check out a Jackie Chan fight scene and notice how even in high intensity fights, there are little breaks here and there for a joke or some dialogue, or to give a location shot of a new area where they will resume their fighting. On the other hand, in the matrix sequels, it was nonstop action throughout with no time to breathe, and it just was too much; and eventually people got desensitized to everything happening. Otherwise it's a good mix, with some cool ideas added.

This basically sounds like reverbed midi in a lot of parts; You really need to humanize the parts. You do vary up some velocities which is good, but every single note is perfectly on beat, making it sound unnatural. This is something I have learned to hear very well in the past few weeks while working on my own mixes, and thus it is super apparent to me now. some samples work ok, like the snare is decent, and with some humanization the strings could work good, but the brass sound is really bad, and overall things are drowned in reverb. The piano also isn't good enough. It sounds really mushy, like a bad cross between a grand and electric piano. Also something you want to keep in mind with orchestral pieces is that dynamics are crucial; crescendos and decrescendos make or break them; and though you have a few crescendos in the macro view of the piece, you need to make them more apparent in the micro. Phrases should ebb and flow, an they are too static right now.

Good start, production is solid, though that isn't really a challenge for you. What is a challenge is remixing the james bond theme in a new and exciting way. Good luck dude; i'll be keeping an eye on your progress.

The original soundtrack at zophar's wasn't working, so i'm not sure how the original sounds, but I gotta say yes this is is total cheese, but it's very catchy. Perfect for a training montage! I think the drums are a little over-compressed, and of course, Slayer has got to go, but the mix evolves pretty well from what we have to comment on, and overall it's pretty enjoyable. I'm hesitant to comment on arrangement without knowing the original though; do you have a link to a working chiptune?

As it stands, the mixing is mostly there, but the arrangement is very boring. I can tell the influences well, but throughout the whole mix nothing really attention-grabbing happens. For example, it needs a string bed with a chord progression or something more melodic happening. Alternatively, you could make the drums more pronounced and exciting. The Drums add a nice flavor but don't really drive the track forward, so they can't really be the focal point. Adding a few hooks into the feeling you've created is what this needs most of all. Production-wise there are a few changes that need to be made. When the hand percussion comes in early on, it is way too close in the sound field for it to sit properly in the mix. It would work up front there for a techno track, but in this instance they need to be further back and natural sounding. The lower drums that come in later are more properly placed.

I feel pretty bad for all the "he'll die before he finishes this stupid series" jokes I made back in high school now.

Ended way sooner than I would have liked; seemed like it was just getting started, but the awesomeness contained within this is staggering. You guys get the totally metal FIST OF ULTIMATE APPROVAL!

Great tone throughout and a good arrangement, but some of the chugs 1/3 through weren't terribly tight, and some bass timing slips at the beginning of the ska section should have been caught. Things tightened up once the drums came in. Solos are very nice, and the ska section with the organ was especially creative. Nice ambiance, and mixing, and overall pretty sweet.

Fantastic work everyone, the quality and variety is awesome. It's a little early for detailed comments, but everything i've heard thus far has been incredible.

Badass; good to hear you've still been workin, Ross. Taucer sent me some very nice geetarz for le tresor, so it looks like we might actually have this finished by the deadline

changed the chart to include the tracklist; scroll up a bit to check it. Taucer and I are finishing up Le Tresor, and I think Avaris and Wiesty should post their WIP on the forums. The only track that I'm worried about is Portal. I havn't heard anything from RK in forever, so it might be time to get a new mixer in on that.

Pretty good sounds, though they are waay mechanical in the articulations. You need to humanize them up a good deal; orchestral mixes are difficult to pull off because of this. You can have awesome samples, but they need to sound natural or the illusion is lost. The levels are way too low because you are cranking the bass drum (annoyingly so, imo), it's sound is interfering with the rest of the mix. Bring it down, and the rest of the mix up. Something else to think about is that all of the instruments sound overly seperated, like they were all recorded individually. Of course, this is how the software works, but you need to fill the sound to make it sound like the orchestra was all recorded at once. For arrangement, it seems like the song is on autopilot for most of the track, and doesn't have any rises and falls that are required for interesting orchestral music. Add some crescendos and decrescendos, vary up the bass drum a little and add some additional percussion. Some snares would give the piece a little bit more motion without losing the feel you are going for. You have a good start, you just need to take it further.

Pretty competent, but overly generic, imo. The drums are on autopilot for the majority of the song, and there isn't really anything exciting that draws my attention. You have a lot of synths going, which creates some good textures, but with the same drum patterns going over and the bass generally droning on just the root, it gets really old, and fast. A lot of the song seems to be building into a part that really breaks out, and it never happens. I would either alter the chorus heavily so that the bass switches chords, and the beat gets more intense. Production is decent; there is some panning and things seem generally full, so all you need to do is have the existing elements do something more interesting.

Transitions on this seem really week, and the flow of the song in the beginning is a train wreck; there are visible seams everywhere. You need to smooth out the transitions between parts, and have the existing parts make more sense in relation to each other. The mix also sounds very empty right now, and needs the soundscape filled out a lot more. Add some pads, add a beat; to be honest right now you have enough room in the mix to add just about anything, and you shouldn't be shy about doing so. Keep at it.

I think it is way classier without the sound file at the end; it has nothing to do with the mix itself and just seems really cheap and annoying. Big thumbs down from me on it. The highs could be increased a good deal from about 2k and up and it'd add a nice point to the sound in the mix.

The sounds are kind of thin and brittle sounding, and the RMS is super high; i have my volume decently low usually and I even had to turn it down for this. The drums need some punch as well, and the soundfield is a bit too narrow. Arrangement is decent, but it seemed to drag a bit to me. Maybe tighten it up lengthwise and condense your ideas to keep things more interesting for the duration.

The link isn't working for me. Do you have an alternate host?