M2S7N

thanks man, I'm glad you like it! I tried not to use the obvious songs for each rapper, but most importantly looked for stuff to correlate BPM, key (if there's singing, for the most part i tried to avoid it) and mood wise. For the games yea it was tough near the end, I think I could make another one with the amount of rappers I like but didn't get to, but I wish pushing it with the 3rd one with finding soundtracks with usable stuff. Some of the games also just have so many gems it's hard to just pick one. But a lot of the time I think I lucked out with how well some of them matched up, there was planning but at times I felt like certain pairings were made for each other (i.e. Del & Perfect Dark sounds like it could be a b-side off Deltron 3030). But thanks for checkin it out, and feel free to spread it to friends/other forums and such.

So a few months ago I put together, largely for my own enjoyment but also planning to "release" it on the internet, 3 full-length volumes of what I call Raptendo 64. It consists of N64 music taken straight from the game and acapellas of rappers I admire. Throughout the 3 volumes, totaling 47 tracks, each track uses a different game as a source and likewise, no rapper is repeated, making for a nice collection of what I consider to be top-notch N64 and rap music. The main aim of this project was simply to provide a way for myself to listen to video game music and hip-hop at the same time, two genres I love. But another big goal was to promote the idea of video game music as legitimate sampling material for the rap community, and likewise maybe turn vgm fans onto good hip-hop they may not know of. You can download all three volumes at the site below, or preview some tracks first. Enjoy, and feedback is welcome! Volume 1: http://pkmao.bandcamp.com/album/raptendo-64-vol-1 Volume 2: http://pkmao.bandcamp.com/album/raptendo-64-vol-2 Volume 3: http://pkmao.bandcamp.com/album/raptendo-64-vol-3

I put together this mix album blending Nujabes instrumentals and acapellas from rappers I would have loved to have seen him work with. I planned on finishing it earlier but here it is nonetheless, if anyone's interested: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IAXIVY0C

Hey, thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed. Most of your critique I would agree with, however not all of it I would care to change, either out of laziness or just ready to move on. 1) I agree that drums need more interest, and slight nuances, etc, and I actually did more of that when it switches to the ride during the rhodes solo because I wanted more interaction with the snare (or "jazzy" if you wanna say that), but editing each hit was so tedious I didn't care to do it for the rest of the song. I also felt even with all that paying attention to detail with the drums, it STILL would be better accomplished with live drums which I don't have access to right now. So why bother? Maybe I'm just lazy but maybe also I just think if I'm going to go to great lengths for variation I should get a live drummer. Though a few more fills/breaks here and there could have worked too/not taken forever to accomplish 2) I'm not sure what kind of oomph you're hearing/wanting to hear but this was one where I disagree. there's a decent amount of reverb on it already, and though the quality is super hi-fi sounding I think it works for the style. 4) I agree with the synth getting boring. I think it sounds cool but especially during the out head, since it also repeats once, gets a little stale. I probably could have done more automation with filters and the like, but didn't feel like it. 5) Actually the guitar solo in this song isn't me, it's a friend of mine, and I very much told him to do his thing in full knowing what his thing was, and I think it works as a first solo. I feel my synth solo is more melodic based, whereas the guitar gives it a contrast by coming in and kicking your ass a little. And I do think there is direction and melody to it, just not as plain in sight. 6) Yea I agree with this too. I was gonna bring the rhodes back during the melody at the end but didn't know where to put it so I just didn't. I guess I was feeling my a production standpoint, the synth takes up a good deal of room, and then the clean guitar had the left side and the lead distorted had the right, so I didn't see anywhere to put anything else without clutter. Though from an arrangement interest point it could have used something This is all very good feedback, and thank you, though unfortunately I probably won't end up changing a whole lot, I'm kinda over this already and wanna try other ideas. Maybe slight production/level tweaks but the detail of the arrangement just isn't worth it to me. If I want to accomplish that kind of natural interplay I would play with a band where detail/variation in the drums and such comes natural and doesn't have to be painstakingly edited. Above all this was to practice my mixing skills, once I realized it was pushing 8 minutes I realized the same 16 bars over and over may get old, but I think it's okay for what it was, for fun.

I started this in the summer, as a simple fun project to practice my Logic skills while recreating a tune from a game/series I adore so dearly. It was also a way to collaborate with a friend of mine who plays guitar (he plays all the parts that actually require skill) and is also a mutual mother 3 admirer. So this was made mostly for my own benefit, without OCR in mind, and without any guilt about straight up covering (evil word, I know) the source to set up. But after forgetting about it, putting it off and then finally going back to revisit/finish the tune after 4 months or so I started to get a little more creative with the direction it takes as it moves on. So I ended up with this, and now ask if it's worth submitting, or if the arrangement is "not up to standards". Any feedback at all is appreciated, regarding arrangement or production, though I just finished this last night and have not gone back yet to retweak things I've had a chance to sleep on (namely the bass being pretty loud, I want bassy but that may be a bit much). http://ocrwip.fireslash.net/?fid=638 source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb4QOnK5VPU

this mix does so many things but it all manages to work really well and actually sound incredibly cohesive even though on paper it shouldn't. i've always loved the texture of synth lead on top of solo piano, reminds me of some Stevie Wonder stuff. But the electronica in the latter half is great and isn't just interpretive for the sake of being interpretive, it all works.

this is really cool. however the perfect sequencing really takes away from it, as does the sound of the piano itself. it is sequenced right? i dont know your piano playing skils but that 32nd note run sounds way too cleanly pulled off. but the solos themselves all fit very well and really i'm being picky for the sake of giving your constructive criticism or something like that. great concept, and I like how it's not JUST strictly ragtime. the soloing language itself seems a bit more advanced which is cool, and the latin thing you did in the bass at the one part was cool. i love the koji kondo tunes that are originally ragtime but hearing other themes from not mario in that style is great and very fitting.

Yea I guess I shoulda been more clear, I don't plan on having me rap on this, cause my rapping is way below average. I definitely meant someone who is at least pretty good, preferably with knowledge about the EB.

Recently I have been working on making hip-hop tracks predominantly through the use of sampling, and one that I started happened to sample the Flying Man track off the original Mother soundtrack (the one with all the singing). Of course I know that sampling game audio as the basis of a mix is frowned upon, but I still used several sampling sources to build a full track, and still take great care in the production aspect. Ideally I would like rapping over this to complete it, as that's how it's always been intended. Though I can and often will listen to instrumental hip-hop that's nothing more than the instrumental with the intended rap removed (i.e. MF Doom's special herbs series) I'm willing to bet the judges will not see my mix the same. The mix is still pretty early, since I'm not gonna try to make everything perfect when I still intend on having rapping over it/that to fit into the soundfield, and I'm not gonna do many instrument dropouts, etc when I don't have the rapping to interact with. but I ask this, would rapping put it over the top? Could I even make it acceptable as an instrumental mix provided I do a bit more variation/possibly some kind of dialogue sampling? Any feedback at all would be appreciated. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EPPEDJ2M

thanks! though i'm not sure what you mean by smooth. all i can really change are the wave types and the attack, though i may try messing around with the sounds more. i would do Wave but first i'm doing the entire "Composer of Desafinado Plays" album, because every song on there is just top notch and the arrangements really lend themselves to 8 bit. That, and I want to transcribe the whole record anyway cause the compositions/solos are just great. If you're interested, I just finished another: http://www.last.fm/music/Matthew+Neil/The+Composer+of+Desafinado+Plays+Nintendo/Vivo+Sonhando+%28Dreamer%29 This one in 8 bit really reminds me of the level 3 map select from SMB3. original:

I made this today using the (free) 8-bit plugin from YMCK. antonio carlos jobim is one of my absolute favorite composers and his music especially lends itself to this type of "de-make". i think this came out pretty well, but wanted to see if i could get any expert opinions on what might make it sound more authentic. i followed all the rules that i know of; correct number of voices, unchanging velocities, and quantization, but this is my first 8 bit mix so some feedback would be great. thanks! http://www.last.fm/music/Matthew+Neil/_/How+Insensitive EDIT: link to the original:

I see what you're saying, might have to do with the stereo delay I had going on with them. I might bump them down 1 dB or 2 if I go back and tweak shit, thanks for the suggestion.

And by that you mean...? I wish I knew some more horn players so I could give that part a little more realism, maybe I can come back to it if I do happen to find a better sample and know how to use it. I know what you're saying, I wish I could get that classic reggae horn section sound, but for now I don't think it's worth it to fix two small parts that hopefully wouldn't make or break the mix. I can remember a couple times where I took the delaying sound (guitar/snare) and took it to near clipping with the feedback, but all that was intentional. Maybe I could have toned it down at parts (I know at some parts I have 3 or 4 instruments delaying at once), but this was an experimental track, so I like the extremities of those sounds, if that makes sense.. The bass is real, and it is loud, it being a dub track I wanted it to be louder than the bass in most mixes would be, but hopefully it's not too loud to the point of being distracting/unnecessary. This all definitely depends on the monitors, to me it sounds fine, but I also have biased ears since I played and mixed the damn thing. Anyway thanks much for your feedback, it's good to have second opinions on things like the brass and the bass. I may give the mix one more run at fine tuning things before I submit it to see what the judges think. ()

Thanks much for the comments, I'm glad to see someone likes it. The whole bass issue I'm unsure about... You mentioned it being too loud, which is definitely true, but it's also what I wanted. Any good dub track has to have a bass line which you can feel, and sometimes I have mixed feelings about this one, mostly depending on what speakers I'm hearing it through. Through my normal, music playing, desktop speakers I feel like parts of it are weak and still aren't bassy enough (not meaning it's not loud enough, just that I might need to EQ better to get better low end). But I play it in my car and it absolutely kills, so much so that I think I blew my right back speaker testing this song. Anyway, if anyone else has an opinion on the bass I'd like to hear it. I agree with you on the brass though, I just don't know what I can do outside of searching for a better brass sample and learning how to use VST plugins and all that, which to me is not worth it, I'd rather start a new project. I almost feel the cheap brass sample is acceptable since it's a dub track and not a brass quintet arrangement, but anyway. The sax is actually an alto, it probably just sounds that way since it's so heavily processed (I ran it into my multieffects processor with amp modeling, reverb, and then to my delay pedal. there's also a pinch of wah mixed in. ). The echo may sound overdone, but again that's kind of the intention. I see what you mean with the snare too, I was unsure about it at first, but now I like the punchiness of it. It's better than sounding like the cheap $150 MIDI-ish drum machine it came out of. anyway thanks again for the feedback!

So this is my first post here on the forums, though I've been reading around and currently have a song in the judging process, also from Earthbound, Bus Rider. Well a few weeks ago I made this one, it's the generic house and hospital theme made into a dub track, which the originals were obviously intending (the composers even cite King Tubby as an influence in an interview). I had also just gotten a new delay pedal (the Boss DD-6) as well as a new preamp, so it was a great excuse to work on some new techniques. I used Audacity to record and mix and all that, and also got my brother to contribute some sax for the lead part. So rather than submitting this one and waiting 3 months to know what things I'll have to tweak, I figured I'd post it here and try to get some feedback. I'm somewhat unsure if my bass tone is absolutely how I want it. It should be BASSy, and I'm not sure if it hits enough of those lower frequencies. Also the cheap brass sample from my keyboard, I did a lot to alter the original sound so it doesn't sound so MIDIish, but I'd still like some feedback on that. Basically any feedback at all would be greatly appreciated! http://www.mediafire.com/?1j4gyuitbzg