Tensei

Well I can't say that this mix has a lot going for it, everything sounds dry like the sahara desert (especially the percussion) and the string and piano notes sound dissonant compared to the main melody ostinato. Also, the percussion and the flute are very off-beat, it all sounds very chaotic, and there's little to none expansion upon the original. You're going to need to work it out a lot more to get a cohesive musical idea, but first of all, just make sure all the tracks are lined up correctly, and everything is nicely quantized on-beat. P.S. I think the flute in the original is in fact a Shakuhachi, so you might want to look for a soundfont of it. With some pitch control you can fake the glissandos(the slides) at the start of each note

Ah that's great, everything worked out! Anyway, good luck everyone! =3

I've done some hard work here since the last time I posted this, I've got about 4 minutes done, but I only put up this one minute since that's as far as I've recorded the guitars. In total there's been about two months work put into this remix, and I'm definitely planning to make it something epic. Feedback is welcome!

I've PMed you (Rexy) the next source tune and my description, so it should be sitting in your inbox.

Okay, I got the song for the next PRC ready in both midi and NSF format, should I just post it here with an explanation, or PM someone or what?

Well ok, voted then. In case I win, I already have an amazing idea for the song choice for the next compo, I'm pretty sure you're gonna love it.

I demand that Force your Way will be an epic Rock/Metal Arrangement that trumps the Black Mages version in every respect, otherwise this project will just suck. Just kidding, with source tunes like this, there's no way this'll go wrong

You should also experiment with how much pressure you exert on the strings with your palm, but I don't really think that's the issue here. What I hear sounds alright, except you're not able to keep up the rhythm, which is probably just because of a lack of practice. It takes some time to get used to palm-muting, and alternate-picking at the same time, so you'll just have to put up with it for a few days until you get used to it.

Well it doesn't really matter if either one of us votes since it's going to yield the same points anyway, and you pretty much have only one option to vote for =P

A woodblock? Or a cowbell perhaps? Maybe even two drumsticks? Actually I think a woodblock would be your best option to look into.

Yes, definitely do this, I once bought an issue in Finland (haven't seen it anywhere since), and I loved it. If I recall correctly they even have their own Sequencer/VST-host included, as well as essential stuff like samplers and effects.

I agree with this, I only found this thread because it was the only thread with a new post after a refresh. Were this in GenDisc I would probably have seen it much sooner.

There are quite a few ways to help vary a drum boring drum track. In this case, some snare rolls of sixteenth triplets will work wonders as fills before a transition to a different section (don't overuse this though). Another obvious no-brainer is changing up the hi-hat rhythm, adding different cymbals, and maybe vary up the snare/bass pattern as well. Generally speaking, a pattern where you have a closed hat hitting on each sixteenth note is great for a sort of build-up section, or a section where you want to convey a sense of speed without actually speeding up (double-time). On the other end of the spectrum, you can have a 'big' cymbal, like a crash or a china hit on each quarter note, which gives a sense of slowness and heaviness (though I'm not sure if this would work in a shuffly jazzy piece, but you can always try). Finally, throughout the 'general' sections of your piece, you'll want to have an open hi-hat, a ride, or a splash cymbal playing on each eighth note if you want to convey a 'walking' sense, where the drums drive the piece without going overboard. Of course, things become much more interesting when you start making combinations of the hi-hats and the different cymbals, there's really a million ways to make your piece more interesting by merely experimenting with the hats. Then, you could try to make the drums place an accent on certain sections where you want them. As an example, have a listen, and pay attention to the section at 0:28, where I've got the piano doing a bar with a few double stops, and have the snare and crash accenting them. You can get by with just using your crash cymbal to place accents on notes where you want the, but if you use your snare as well, you get a sort of pattern break, which might sometimes be necessary (because the snare doesn't continue the same rhythm it played before). This way, you can make the drum track be varied AND you can accent sections you want without having to turn up their volume or something. Finally, about drum fills; steal 'em. Listen to a similar track that you're aiming for, pay attention to the drums, and try to recreate the drum fills you hear. This is IMO the best way to get a feeling for how drum fills are built-up, and how you can use them effectively in your song Sorry for the long read by the way, apparently I just like to write about drums a lot =P

I'm not exactly sure if this will help since I'm not an FL user, but if you scroll a bit down, you might notice this thread

I'm definitely liking the vibes from this mix, it's both cute, mischievous and scary at the same time, and the instrumentation adds a lot to the originality. I especially like the little breakdowns and tempo-changes during the second half (The chase with the axe murderer, right? ). You might want to try making the ending section sound MUCH more heroic, in line with your little story, I'm thinking of near-Final Fantasy-style fanfare, because as it is, it's a bit anticlimactic. that's pretty much all I can think of right now. =P

Yeah that's pretty much my only problem with it too, I didn't really take the time for extensive humanizing with the piano and bass (only did some velocities), but if I'm going to submit to OCR I'll definitely be doing that. That still leaves the saxophone though, since this is pretty much the best soundfont I could find, so maybe I'll give one of the sax players a ring about it. Also, thanks for defining the musical genre, cause I really wouldn't have thought of that =P

I posted my mix in the ThaSauce thread, so you can have a listen if you want (I think?). If I did anything wrong ( like yapping too long about how the mix came to be) I'm sorry, it's my first time joining the contest. =P

Triple post! Anyway, the final and fully mastered version is here. This is the way it'll be going into the contest. After the contest I'm going to take a look if it would be submissible to OCR, so feedback is still more than welcome.

Yes, either this, or you could just find similar samples and alternate between them randomly to simulate different parts of the cymbal being hit, that's why I think it's really important to have an extensive sample library for your drums. Anyway, good luck on getting your remix passed =D

Actually, while Guitar Rig 2 might be a lot more versatile, IMO Amplitube 2's Mesa Boogie (Modern Tube Lead) sounds so much better than the one in Guitar Rig (it's called Gratifier or something), which makes it a big issue because that's pretty much the only amp I'll use.

Yes, I'm pretty much done now, arrangement is done, production is as good as done, with the exception of a little mastering session I'll do tomorrow, so this mix is ready to rock. Now if I could just have some feedback. Edit: Yeah I knew I said there'd be guitar, but it just didn't really fit, so I let the piano take over it's part.

Ah, I'm just so used to click directly on the links that this hadn't even occured to me =P . Okay, let's have a listen... Well your voice isn't really THAT bad, I mean okay, the guy from the original had a voice that was a bit more developed, but still, mad props for being able to do the falsetto's (Can't hear if you used pitch correction, I guess not =P) I wouldn't call this a real ReMix in the purest sense of the word though, since apart from the instrumentation this is pretty much a straight cover from the original, but a good one at that. I like the ending =P

well for some reason I still get a connection time-out, which is too bad, cause I really want to hear Take on Me =(

Your link is dead..

Hay guys, this is what is going to be my submission for this weeks PRC contest. I've done the whole arrangement in 1 day (yesterday), and the whole production in 1 day as well (today), so as of now this is my quickest remix yet, but hopefully it's not too obvious. I still have to fix velocities and humanization and record guitar, but it's mostly done. Also, those Tom-tom drums sound like shit, back to EQing again for me. And yes, I totally ripped off the bassline as well as some piano sections, but at least the guitar is going to be playing a cookie cutter blues riff, so screw originality! The original: http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/nintendo/gameboy/z_OofAcrescentisland.mid Me screwing up the original: Edit: ARGH whatever, guess it was Oracle of AGES, not Seasons. But who cares, it's not like I played either of them.