Dr. Rod

Believe me man, I know exactly how u feel. I just found out what panning was like a week ago, lol. And I do agree that the standards on here have gotten really, really, really high, but that doesnt mean you wont get there. Your mix already has creativity and fluidity, which puts you a cut above most remixes that get submitted. If EQing and samples are your main issues, u dont have too far to go to make this OC material : ) Just try and get as much feedback as you can so you'll know what to do to get this on the front page. And I use Reason 3.0 too. If you need any advice on some of its functions/effects, Im LightningRT on AIM.

Im not a huge fan of metalcore, but this sounds pretty good in my opinion. I think u have a good amount of variation, and the song carries a lot of energy, despite not having a whole lot of volume-dynamics. You arrangement is very good, I would only suggest refining some of ur drum set. In particular, the cymbals/ride at the middle on the song sould like the have way too little attack to me, though again, this is purely subjective. Good job overall.

Damn...uve come qute a long way in ur composition skills.......gives me a little bit of hope, lol

Ive done a little bit of research on this myself, and I would agree that the Casio Privias can probably give you the most bang for your buck. Ive seen some brand new ones for only $150, which should fit well into your budget. Me being a college student too, I dont have much money to spend on the finest equipment, but one of these should suit u fine for now : )

Its also a good idea to name your NN-XTs (e.g. Organ, High Piano, etc.). I know I use a lot, and it can be confusing remembering which sound NN-XT 1 is vs. NN-XT 2, 3, 4, etc. That way you can ensure each pattern is linked correctly to each device

I use Reason too, and one thing that may help you is to tweak your samples some as far at the attack, delay, etc. You may not necessarilly need a brand new sample (IMO reason has some nice ones to start with) as much as editing the samples to a quality suitable for your mix. In my current mix, the people i showed this to all said quality was an issue until I tweaked a few of my subtractor devices........what devices have u been using?

When you make the NN-XT, is it linked to the mixer? You can check by hitting Tab to see whats connected to what. I know after I had a certain amount of devices it would stop automatically linking them to the mixer, so I had to do it manually then. On a side note, I loved ur remix Gladly Badass.......good stuff : )

I cant see why this wouldnt make it at least to the panel......it sounds good, is definitely unique, and is of good quality (not MIDIish). I would suggest you submit it and see what the judges have to say about it.

What song are you remixing?

Just curious, how long ago did u make the first one of those remixes?

I agree with the other posts as far as how the vocals sound....they do need a bit of refinement and mastering done. On the plus side though, the instrumental portion of this arrangement is kickin.......and I think u have a great structure to your arrangement.

Sounds pretty good so far.......I would say my biggest criticism is that the basal piano synth pattern gets pretty repetitive. When you change its pitch towards the middle-end, that starts to bring my interest back up, but prior to that it kind of drags on. U might wanna mix the up. The melody is definitely interesting though, and I think uve done a good job of taking an initially sad song and giving new emotion to it.

Oh yeah, I probably shoulve mentioned this earlier, but one of the big issues I wanna make sure I dont have is it being to similar to the original......Im almost positive I have enough variation, but then again Im not totally sure just how far off from the original it has to be.....

I really enjoyed this remix. Youve taken a somewhat ominous original song and made it a very ominous, yet interesting song. Your use of distortion and reverb is great, and really shows to yout talents in mixing and mastering. These arre my main criticisms: The beginning didnt pick up fast enough in my opinion. It was too much of too little, if that makes sense. In the part with the heavy distortion (starts at 2:20 i think), the volume really spikes around 2:26....Im not sure if thats the effect u were going for, but it is a little bit sudden and in my opinion somewhat breaks the overall ominous tone of the remix. It spikes again at the end, but there I think its more appropriate, though the ending is a bit sudden for me too. This is one of my favorite WIPs......Im lookin forward to seein it on the front page man!

Good stuff man......you clearly have a good sense of harmory and an understanding of orchestral dynamics. You were right in saying this is at least 98% done, lol. I cant think of a reason why this wouldnt make it...keep up the good work : )

Well, after experimenting with Thunder Stone for a while, Ive finally found a real theme I wanted to put it into: circus music. Right now this has sort of a dark/ghost carnival feel to it, though Im kinda stuck as to how to improve from here, especially with the technical aspects of it.......which is why I need your comments : ) Any advice you can give on whats good and whats bad would be incredibly helpful. Thanks in advance : ) Heres the remix: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/RocketsCarnival.mp3 And heres the original: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/TeamRocketHideout.WAV

Nah......my resources are a bit limited at the moment : ( On a side note, i have another update: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/ThunderStone0.3.mp3

Another update to Thunder Stone. I threw in a little more bass, though Im still gonna have to clean it up some: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/ThunderStone0.2.mp3

Ive been using Reason 3.0. Everyones been tellin me the main problem is not enough instruments, but Im not sure how many I need to layer up before it sounds really "full", u know?

I've updated my remix a little bit. Though I havent gotten to work on everything I wanted to; Ive changed up a few parts, so I figured I'd post my progress. Again, Id really appreciate any advice as to how to improve this, especially since Im very new to this. "Thunder Stone" Version 0.1: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/ThunderStone0.1.mp3

First and foremost, I think your remix shows a lot of creativity, and really shows your interpretation of the original without being a complete cover. Im workin on my first remix too, and I think we have some similar difficulties. I agree about the samples, some more professional sounding ones would be nice (though Im currently having difficulty finding some for my own remix-in-progress). Other than that, some more harmonies would add meat to the melody and make it more interesting. If your having a mixer's block, you might be able to get some pattern ideas from a simple randomizer. Just keep at it : )

Ok. Just curious, since Ive had a lot of trouble finding good lead/synth samples online; do u know of any good sites that have a wide variety of synth samples? Ive been on freesound and meanrabbit, but I havent had much luck with those.

Hi, Im new to this site, and I could really use some advice on how to improve this remix Ive been working on. Ive been at it for about two weeks now, and I think my foundation is pretty good, but I'd like to know how to make it better. I wanted to keep the length short because I intended to use it for an ITG stepfile (dance game). Any constructive input you have about what's good and whats bad, and how to make it better, would be greatly appreciated. I could use all the help I can get, lol. I think I have the structure I want right now; I know where I wanna go with this, Im just having trouble gettin there. Im still not findin those samples I need : ( I will persevere though, lol This is where Ive gotten with the remix so far: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/ThunderStone0.3.mp3 Heres where I was when I started out: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/ThunderStone0.0.mp3 And here's the original song: http://lightningrt.googlepages.com/TeamRocketHideout.WAV