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Solid stuff here. Good arrangement ideas here. Definitely would like to see you push the envelope more . Looking forward to hearing more from you.

It's in the readme/manual/whatever if I remember right, but this intentional for ASIO to be able to deliver the kind of performance boost that it does. When I was using my Creative Audigy 2, though, I remember it had it's own specific ASIO driver, which allowed me to use other sounds in windows as well as ASIO in FL. It's not in front of me right now, so I can't give any more specific info.

Ok, brand new computer I just built, new house, new setup, time for pics: Monitors are KRK Rokit 5's Synth is Korg N1 88-key fully weighted Mic is Samson CO1U And the computer: AMD Phenom II x4 955 3.2 GHz ASUS MA785TD-V EVO 4 Gigs Ram

Preemptive strike! It took a while before I heard anything I recognized from the source (though i don't have it in front of me at the moment). Actually, the only overt parts I heard were at 1:16 - 1:35, 2:04 - 2:23, 2:31 - 2:44 = 51 seconds out of a 3:30 track. So arrangement-wise, that's a big issue. I'm assuming it was intentional (I haven't read the thread), but the treatment of the second half of the OST melody phrase feels awkward when it comes in on the first beat, rather than the second. Sounded like parts were playing in different keys and/or chord progressions which gave it a jumbled feel. Definitely need to try and bring these parts together to a cohesive whole as they feel pasted on - especially when the melody comes in over the backing parts. On the production side, many of the synths were generic sounding and the balance needs some work to give the various elements clarity. I hate to be a downer on any track and I definitely don't want to discourage you. I say just keep working on your mixing skills in all aspects. It may be a good idea to let this track sit for a while and try some new things - learn more about mixing and just get more experience under your belt. Hope this helps.

Avast is also a free antivirus I've been using for years now.

Not necessarily true, unfortunately, as I spent several hours tonight trying to get Win 7 to accept my product key. Finally got it working (fairly randomly), but installing clean from an upgrade disk does not always work. It says the key is invalid during setup and if you try to activate it manually, tells you that you can't activate it on upgrade version without prior windows install. Anyway, several unsuccessful attempts to reinstall Win XP later (don't ask), just reinstalled Win 7 (format, clean install) worked.

Wow, nice source. Quick breakdown cause I don't have a ton of time: Ok, things are pretty cluttered when everything comes in. I think this needs some balancing attention: the drums are pretty distant, while the pads/strings take up a lot of room. The guitars are a bit loose with timing at several points in the mix. Also, the synths (at least in intro), sounded pretty generic/uninteresting. EQ wise, there's some high end fuzz throughout that's bugging me a bit - might be from your guitars or something I don't know. The good: lots of energy here when things get going, which is a good thing. Cool lead guitar tone. Good soloing later. Good contrasts in the various sections - sounds pretty good arrangement-wise. So, fix up the balance, try and get the EQ highs under control or whatever the fuzz is, tighten up the guitar playing, work on the synth design a bit. Lots of potential here, could be very good.

Yeah my mixing comp's busted :/, so no music until I can fix it. Fish is supposed to lead the track off anyway, though.

Interesting take, blending both of the themes here. Very creative. Source use was very clear throughout and good handoffs between both themes. The chocobo bit was amusing . My only beef on arrangement was the ending felt pretty weak. Honestly, though, most of your synths felt pretty basic/vanilla. I'm definitely no pro at synth design, but I'd recommend doing a lot of listening to some of the artists here and how they use synths to see how you can improve. SGX immediately comes to mind. I'd say this is the most pressing issue right now for the track.

Sorry for the delay. When you're requesting mod review, please provide a link to the source. You can find more info here. I can tell you're using some stereo separation effects for a wide sound, but I personally disagree with using it on the kick specifically. It's a little distracting, making the kick sound like it's behind and to the left. I'd center it up. Just be careful not to overuse the effect. There are a few highs that are a bit piercing here. The hats could use a slight drop on the highs. Things get crowded here as it builds up. It's especially evident when the main theme comes in around 1:30. The guitar is getting squashed and distorted from the other elements. Try cutting some freqs out to give the guitar room to breathe. Happens again around 3:42 - some distortion from overcrowding. Overall, sounds are pretty good though. Not too much that needs to be fixed production-wise. On the arrangement side, I'm a bit iffy here. There wasn't a whole lot of the main melody from the orginal track, but the underlying chord connection was clear throughout. I'm gonna ask one of the other mods to chime in here. Ending felt a bit weak, but I guess that's a matter of taste. Good stuff here dude, I think you're close. Tighten up the production and get some more input on the source usage and I think you're set.

Phetik would be cooler, guess you need to change it again. Also, long project is long.

Got your pm earlier, here goes: Textures and arrangement are pretty simplistic here. For the first section it's basically a bell synth and drums, with the bells later replaced by a synth, and so on. This definitely reminds me of more early on ocr stuff. To be honest, the arrangement is too simple and the samples pretty vanilla for something to be submitted here. That said, I don't want you to get discouraged. This is a fair mix for someone new to the craft. I'd recommend you find yourself a DAW you're comfortable with (Reaper is cheap as free, since you mentioned a lack of funds), then some sounds (VST, etc) to add to your library. Honestly, I wouldn't touch this mix anymore. Focus on getting a good enough setup that won't hold you back like what you have now. Again, check out Reaper, or perhaps the FL Studio free demo version to get aquainted with the process.

Ok so this isn't last night, but better late than never. I agree a bit with emu on the intro, it does come in pretty suddenly. I see what you're going for, and it can work, but perhaps see if you can smooth it out a bit more. Brass leads are pretty mechanical and get exposed when they're doing quick note changes. I don't know if that muted brass sample will be able to be tweaked to work since it's an attack. The lower brass (trombones) seem to be working better. There's some good changeups on the arrangement side and creativity. Something's bothering me about the general soundscape, which I'm having trouble putting my finger on. It does sound like some high end freqs are missing, but in a sense, the general sound is a bit on the washed out/thin side. I'm not sure how better to describe it - could be reverb settings, general eq, samples (what are you using?), don't know. Interesting switch up with the beat coming in. When exposed, the hihat-ish percussion at this point sounds kinda cheesy. Consider switching up the metal perc with some better samples and see if you can make the beat a bit more interesting. Another note, I think you have a ton of room for some more orchestra dynamics. Be sure to automate expression (if you have ewql) or at least velocity/volume of strings and brass to keep things from feeling flat. All I have time for at the moment. Youtube isn't playing nice so I can't compare to source, but I did recognize some of the themes from memory. Good luck with this.

Got your PM man. I can't listen to this since I'm at work right now, but I'll definitely try to catch it at home later tonight.

Personally, I use Silver Edition: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01804/ http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02012/ http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01943/

Aaaand done.

I think you need to get some more guitars But yeah, this is very impressive

For an instrument fade, you can do it several ways. Perhaps the easiest is to automate the volume knob left of the instrument channel (on the step sequencer, right click the vol knob and click create automation clip. Then adjust the automation clip on the timeline to fade the track. For panning, you can do the same thing on the Panning knob (right next to volume), or you can automate the panning knob on the associated mixer track.

Quick review: Intro is pretty sudden and breaks into some pretty exposed sustained notes. I'd say consider writing something a bit more grabbing for the listener, or at the very least, gradually bring in the notes and move them dynamically back after the initial hit. Samples are nice, but need more work to make them more believable. Brass sounds very rigid when first coming in especially. Need to vary up some more velocities. Maybe even consider pushing things back a bit more in the soundfield with some reverb to mask it more. Sounds better with the string stabs coming in with the brass. The harp is pretty far forward and also feels on the rigid side. I'm not feeling that cello lead. It's upfront and very exposed - this sample just can't carry it. It might be written a bit high on the register as well, but I'm not sure there. I think you'd have to somehow mix in some more legato slurs to get away from the rigid note changes. I think the cello is the biggest offender, production-wise. Those low string (cellos?) stabs can work, but need some major variation on the velocities as well. Right now they're very robotic sounding. Consider layering in some other string stabs to vary it up. On the arrangement side, I like how you've handled the themes and varied it up between parts and instruments. I think the main problem here, though, is you've cut and pasted these same sections later in the song with little (if any) variation. I think this could benefit with a more subdued section to give some contrast to the general feel - it also gives more opportunity to expand on the melody in a totally different way. Also, if you do want to repeat a section, vary it up enough so it keeps the song fresh. Finally, consider modulating some of the melodies at times to personalize it a bit. Overall, this is definitely on its way there and I can tell you've put some work into this. Keep at it.

Wow, pretty obscure source here. Ok, sounds like things are starting to shape up here. I'm really liking your handling of the various lead instruments. I'm still not convinced with the paino, though - it's sounding pretty unrealistic, especially on the runs. I don't think it's a deal breaker, but personally I'd try to find another piano sample that has a bit more realistic timbre. Guitar sample is on the thin side, but it's not as big of a carrier of this song. Still, if you could find a better sample, it would help. Other than that, though, this is sounding pretty solid on the production side. For some reason, youtube is refusing to work for me now. I was able to get one brief listen in on the source, but the connections weren't immediately apparent. I'll have to do another comparison when it decides to work again.

Pretty respectable number of married folk here. Now all we need is the OCR parents thread.

You can try the FL diagnostic tool: http://flstudio.image-line.com/diagnostic/ No guarantees though. Also, ctrl+s wouldn't have helped here, seeing that the file is corrupt anyway. ctrl+n = save new version. I use it all the time.

Writing the ending for my track. This has to be my best ocr track so far