Kruai

Heh... yeah. D'oh!

Hy Bound that was a very in-depth, wonderful, grammatically correct response. You have exceeded the standard of what I was looking for and you are now my idol blah blah blah. Thanks! And again, I'm always looking for more opinions. If you'd like to say something, please do.

Well Reaper kept crashing so I un-installed to do a clean install... and for some reason it took the project files with it. But never fear! I have an old backup! Just give me a while to get it back to about where it was before.

Luckily, I'm a drummer! So I don't need to find one And no, I don't know anybody that can afford to rent an entire orchestra. And your piece about interaction is very useful to me. Thanks! If anybody else wants to comment on samples (or continue VI discussion) I'd still appreciate it!

Well I've lost the project file for now... I'm going to try to either get my old file back or re-create it from the last backup I made. It's gonna take a while! But I'm gonna stick with what I have for now until I'm in a position to attempt improvement.

Thanks for your response, Rozovian! I just want to know what people think on the issue. I guess a better question would be, what do you think of the use of samples vs. instrument-simulating plug-ins in general?

Hey guys! I'm going a research paper on the usage of Virtual Instruments and samples and I'd like to quote some of you guys (you expert ReMixers, you!) and wanted to know what you guys thought. So here's the type of response I'm looking for: How often you use short samples (i.e. one note at a time) and full recorded tracks, and at what bit rate; how often you use VSTi's, and what your requirements are for them; how you compare your usage (or general quality) of VSTi's. In addition, if there's anything you want to say concerning either (or preferably both) of them, give it a shot! So yeah. Thanks a lot! Kruai

@Skyway: well it's a laptop, and I had an EQ application running beforehand (Realtek) and then it proceeded to run itself every time I log on, even after I 'uninstalled' it. But I digress, eventually I'll get up and clean it out :\ Anywho, ok I'll run it through a compressor next time. Plus I guess the bass might be overpowering stuff so I'll back it off a bit. And I'm glad it's not as monotonous as before! I'll work on the drums next and finish up soon. @Neblix oh and about that guitar thing, it's actually not samples. I tweaked a guitar synth and layered a super-secret combination of amps on top Woo! Tanks.

Well, I think I'm almost done here. I really like the progress I've made and I appreciate all the help you've given me. I'm still wondering about the bass level, because my computer amplifies it. I can't sync to my zune yet, but it sounds a bit overpowered in this mix. Tell me what you think. Here's the near-final WIP! http://www.mediafire.com/?nywy5yyejwr

Haha hmm. Well that was probably my first critique, so I would take my comments with a grain of salt. If you used a lot of reverb and nobody comments on it, leave it there. I guess for the drums, maybe I'm just used to hearing similar ones on my MIDI keyboard. I just meant that they would sound much more epic if they were punchier and more realistic sounding. Maybe echo? I dunno. I'd play around with it a bit, but if you think it sounds fine, leave it there. Also, did you already release a WIP beforehand? I thought that if we did, we were supposed to post later ones in the same thread

Well I got rid of the guitar where it seemed to be a bit much, and I'm still trying to pump the bass to a good level (but on my laptop it sounds much louder than on other sources). I also added a rate drop near the end to make the final buildup cooler. I added separate parts for the rhythm guitar to add "rhythm" instead of melody http://www.mediafire.com/?miymkvluqw3 Getting better?

OK kind of a WIP but I'd really just like to know what you guys think of the new rock guitar sound. Is it okay sounding? I'd like to get rid of the echo, but I'm not quite sure what's causing it. I'll look into it though (unless it sounds good, but I think it sounds weird). http://www.mediafire.com/?ytwwmxnyiyz

I like it. Took me a while to get used to the altered melody, though.

I like this mix, but here are some things I noticed while listening to it: -The toms sound VERY fake sounding. All the other drums sound fake but not quite as bad as the toms. I'd recommend getting some cleaner samples (maybe check freesound.org) -Needs more dynamic contrast -Everything needs a little reverb -Is that a bell sound or bass synth on the low end? If it's bass, you might want to detune it and add another waveform on top. Actually I'm not sure for that one, it just sounds weird to me I'm not sure what else right now. But I hope you get some varied opinions here ^^

Bahaha well I am using DSK, but oddly enough, there's no brass. The sax sounds brassy, I guess. I'll mess with that sound a bit, plus I got some guitar effects I'm gonna layer on. But I have to present this to a class (don't worry, it's all engineers!) so it'll be a while before the next WIP. Oh, and I'm sorry but that's really what the melody sounds like to me... does it really go down? I do actually hear the verse jump about an octave on the third note. I'll look it up though.

Ehhhh okay. So I'm just not hitting the right notes. I thought it was correct, but I'll go check a MIDI or something. And I understand, that's why I'm passing it to people off the board as well. Thanks for the help.

Well I would if anybody else posted in this thread but no worries, I have people in my college group giving me suggestions too. And let's see. You mean move the whole thing up so it's in the same key? That's not too much trouble and doesn't change it all that much. I'll see how that sounds and post another (hopefully soon to last) WIP soon.

Actually, I'm not sure I like this one better. I might get rid of that middle section again. Tell me what you think. I might put the main verse back in the middle somewhere. I know you wanna hear it at the end but it just sounds like it adds a lull to the song.

Hah actually I was more worried about people getting bored. Not as worried about the size limit. And I added another melody section just for you Yeah, it did kind of die out a bit after that, but I was trying to make the build to the final chorus more epic. Anyway, hope you like this one. And hope I'm moving forward http://www.mediafire.com/?mnwfhznj3jw

Haha okay let's see. Well I kind of wonder what more I can do to the reverse cymbal, because I completely removed it and the crash and replaced it with a cymbal roll. I'm not sure what you mean with it sounding unrealistic, but I can maybe add some more reverb to it. As for the 2:45 section, I appreciate your input and I'll ask around a bit more for that. What I've heard so far is that it's a nice change of pace and that although it doesn't fit into the genre, it's still nice to hear. But I'll take it into consideration, along with the run of the main melody. I was really trying to keep this mix kind of short, but alas. If that sounds better, I'll see what I can do. So thanks a lot! I'll work on it a bit more before I submit. Edit: Oh yeah. And the thing at the beginning is just a mix of synth and strings. Nothing complicated, just thought it sounded right.

All right, here I am with WIP2. Sorry, I feel really attached to the clean-sounding guitar for some reason and I don't like the sound of my rock guitar. Hope you like it anyway. Does it sound better, despite the fact that I didn't change the guitar? http://www.mediafire.com/?yz2qtw3wm1o Thanks again!