Dr. Rod

[Double post]

Though I can't really participate in the competition, I would love to see some .RNS files so that I can get an idea as to how some people more experienced with reason setup thier devices, if anyone has any now that they'd like to share

A Reason without the Combinator? I couldn't imagine that......

I was wondering is there a venue on this site to get one-on-one feedback from a judge on a remix you're working on? The WIP forums are helpful, but the judges tend to give a more detailed critique, and sometimes a WIP wont recieve any hits on the forum for bump after bump. Is there a way to request a quick opinion from an OCR judge so that you can know whether to submit or not, without having to wait out the judging process?

Yeah, Ive got some together...I'll send em via PM http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/BasementFunk.mp3

I really enjoyed this....I think my biggest criticism would be that the high-end percussion is a little sizzly (too much treble) at certain parts, and it tends to create more noise than Id like. I loved the arrangement though, good dynamic contrast, interesting harmonies. Hot stuff : )

Thanx man, Ive edited the backing strings a bit. They're more padish, but I also noticed they were a bit overbearing with the reverb/delay, so I lowered thier volume to push them more into the background. And I played around with the vibraphone and switched up the instruments in a couple parts. I still need to work on the drums though. I also need to throw in more production effects, but I'll see where that goes as I learn more. Hopefully I can have this finished sooner than later : ) http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/BasementFunk.mp3

Well, after a hiatus, Im posting what ive done with this thus far: Heres the update: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/BasementFunk.mp3 The intro and outro have changed. There are some more instruments added in to fill the harmonic space, and I added some points where the drums drop/switch up a bit. Well, where to go from here?

I live in DC....I just figured the pre and post-concert activities were open to anyone who happened to be goin to the concert; I didnt know there was a preset group.

Provided that my car gets out the shop in the next few weeks, I'll be able to pick up up to 3 people from the Philly area. And I would definitely be interested in a Friday chill session that BGC was talkin about before the show Friday, as well as hangin out Saturday afternoon

I think the biggest thing you need to do is edit the speed of your chanting sample so it lines up with your mallet percussion (the general beat of the piece). For me the pitch of the bells isn't an issue, but thier volume is. They're too loud, so they push everything else in the background. Also, like avaris said, you need more harmonies goin on to sophisticate the composition. A bit more dynamic contrast wouldn't hurt either. Take it from someone whos also working with a somewhat unattractive source, though its tough to work with, it almost ensures you'll create something better than the original. Your style is certainly unique and interesting. Keep working on this, Id love to see where youve gotten with it in a week or two.

As a philosopher (sort of), I believe thats like asking how many grains of sand does it take to make a heap (Sorites Paradox). 1 grain of sand clearly isnt a heap, 1,000,000 clearly is. But what lies between is purely subjective. Similarly, having 100% original content is clearly an original, having 0% clearly isnt. But where the line is drawn is completely subjective and thus unanswerable in objective terms. As a remixer (hopeful), personally when I try and judge just how original a mix is, I try to remember the most notable parts. For instance, theres one Hydrocity mix on here that I liked mainly because it followed Hydrocity (one of my favorite sonic songs) very closely. The parts I liked were all straight out of hydrocity, so Id call that a pure remix. Another Hydrocity song had much more original sections I remembered just as much, if not more than, the Hydrocity sections. So thats a little more original. When I dont remember the source AT ALL and am instead ONLY drawn to only the original stuff, I'd call it an original.

The hi-hat/shaker issue has clearly been resolved. The piano that comes in around 1:58 sounds a little fuzzy.....if you can, play around with the EQ on that to make it a bit more defined. I only say "if you can" because it seems like youve found a delicate balance in your soundscape to keep it perfectly full, and if tampering with the piano throws anything else off, then just let it be. It certainly doesnt detract from the arrangement, but giving it a bit more definition could get this just a bit more perfect. Arrangement is definitely hot.....not sure what more to say. Great job man : )

Glad to see you're gonna resub this. This is one of my favorite WIPs up here. The mid-range percussion at certain points is a bit overpowering to me, most notably when the snare first comes it. I really enjoy the arrangement though, and I dont find it too repetitive at all. Good luck with this : )

From the jump, some of your harmonies arent very harmonic, mainly in the beginning. There are a lot of sour notes there. I think you have good arrangement ideas though, and I like the "dual themes" evident in this piece. You just need more practice communicating your musical ideas effectively. What program are u using to make this?

You definitely have a talent for trance music. Though they could use slight refinement, your synth choice is very clean and the instruments work well together. The song seems to overall be very "trebley", and in certain areas (especially the beginning where the hi-hat/shakers come in) it creates a noticable frequency gap. Toning down the hi-hats/shakers just a bit may help this. Arrangement wise I really enjoyed this. I think it has enough breaks from the main melody to not be considered too repetitive, and your harmonies and chord progression keep things interesting. Just curious, how long did it take you to make this? And what programs are you using?

Yeah, DDR syncing is typically a little early, ITG is typically a little late. So making the switch from one to the other takes some getting used to...

Could u post a link to the source for comparison?

link is broken.....

Off the bat, everything is really left-heavy as far as panning....you have the main instruments/synths on the left and the background stuff on the right...makes for a very unbalanced soundscape. The arrangement has potential, though i think more sounds would help to spice up the interest factor

Thanks for all ur comments everyone...Ive done another update: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/BasementFunk.mp3 Now I think I'll take a week away from this to look at other remixes on here and study how some other remixes manipulate thier sources,,,,,,I've hit a major block, so hopefully this will give me some inspiration. If nothin else, maybe I'll catch something new when i return to this project in about a week. Also Im hoping to get some more comments during this period.

I thought this was okay.....but it really was quite repetitive. The production was on point, it just seemed like had this been worked on just a little more, had there been a little more variety here and there, it could go from mediocre to amazing.

You could probably easily get rid of the click by filtering out some high freqs on that bass....

Welcome to OCR! Im only commenting on the Scrambled Egg remix, since Im more familiar with that source. In fact, its easily my favorite song from Sonic 2 for GameGear and among my top three favorite Sonic songs, so kudos to you : ) Having said that, this is much too similar to the source. You start out with some decent interpretation, but from 0:25 on the melody is damn near identical to the source. I think you should work on extending each little section, adding changes to the main melody and see where it takes you. Contrary to the name, OC Remixes aren't remixes at all, they're total rearrangements. Just experiment around, put your own original stuff into the mix. Good luck!

As far as the arrangement, I think the strongest point was the beginning (around 0:30) where you brought in your Haunted Woods interpretation on piano. I really think you should stick to the Haunted Woods theme...the rest seems really out of place and bizzare to me. It seems kinda like you took the shotgun approach to this piece, I think you could make this a lot better if you focus just on improving and reinterpreting the Hanuted Woods in several ways....scrap the other stuff in the middle, it just makes the mix seem spastic. With your samples, the synth that comes in around 1:02 should have a bit more sustainto it, it sounds too stacatto. The strings that pop up at 1:19 are too loud IMO, and they seem to come in a bit early. When I heard it it made me think you were gonna go into some electronica or somethin like that; you should probably use a softer, more eerie, dreamy synth to keep the atmosphere. From 1:41 to 1:48 theres a lot of static on the higher notes of the piano. From 3:59 on, the texture is a lot thinner than it was in the beginning, work on more harmonies and fills for that section. A lot of work needs to be done, but Im sure its nothin u cant handle...good luck man : )