Rozovian

I had a wip of Final Hours from this game. The WIP was more a collection of ideas than a cohesive remix, but you might enjoy it. Might go back to it at some point, but I haven't touched it in about a year so it's... not current. Here.

For realism, you could vary the velocities... the note strengths, on the piano. A real pianist would play some notes, some parts softer, some harder. Guitar is gonna be difficult to give a realistic sound. As for drums, you ned more hihats, crashes, rides, like a real drummer would do. Basically, for realism, think like a person playing the instrument you're working on. Overall, the track is pretty weak, tho you should probably focus on the writing and instrument sound before starting to worry about mixing them together and getting everything loud enough (which you also need to do, just not yet). This isn't how I remember the source, so there seems to be some deviations from it. That's good. This does sound promising, especially for a newb. Great work so far.

I like the soft sound this has under the drums. Not much production crits I can come with here, just a question of direction: soft or hard? I think it could work well as a soft dance track. Hard to miss the dire dire docks source, and I think I recognize the koopas road thing there as well. Probably needs a bit more variation in the writing before and after the 2:50 mark, but personally, I don't mind its current state. Good stuff.

Watch the levels, you've got a lot of really soft sounding parts because the tracks are turned down. Turn 'em up. Your tom fill in the intro (0:41) is a good example - needs more strength, more volume. I like the writing there, btw. What happened to the hihats? I don't remember them being this soft in earlier versions. (way too soft, at least on speakers) Snare sounds better here. I don't mind the clapping, but you could probably avoid using it for background, just keep it for the parts where you want the track to rise in intensity (e.g. drop it at 1:56, it's done its part). You might need some chords in the background to even out the frequency range and kep thing from sounding too thin. They don't have to be very loud, just barely audible. I've noticed that even soft pads in the background have a great effect on the mood of the track. The chords you choose for them are gonna have a big impact on the mood of the track, be mindffl of that if you add them. Yeah, I wouldn't say you should sub this yet, but you're definitely getting better. You're right about this having a much more polished sound, but you've still got things to do.

Piano sounds a bit mechanical, needs a bit more velocity tweaking, especially in the intro. I agree about the trumpet sample, I find it whiny, but its writing sounds great. I'm too lazy to listen to all the versions, I'll wait until your update contains the whole track.

No source link, no source comment. Repetitive. Could be less repetitive. The minimal instrumentation kind'a hurt it there, with more instruments, more backing, more melodies, you could have it more interesting, it'd transition better between the first section and the piano. Towards the end, you've got a few tracks, but it's still repetitive in its sound. Varied chords backing it up might work, or just finding a melody from source to drive it (doesn't have to be from the same song). Changing the chords when the piano comes in could also work, even if it'd just change one of the repetitions. It's also kind'a heavy on the lows, not much in the high range to balance it out, at least not until the choir comes in. You might want to have a slow ride rhythm where you don't have hihats, just to even things out. The shaker would work, but you only had it in for a little while. I also don't like the dry and weak snare. Needs different processing, or even a different snare sample. I could easily imagine this progressing into something with more drive, trance/dance perhaps, after the piano came in (around 1:08 ), but it goes back to the stale rhythm you had in the beginning. Doesn't really matter that much what you'd change it to, as long as you'd change it more. imo, anyway. Still, this sounds fairly promising. It could be great, but it's not there yet.

Doesn't start with the usual 6 notes. That's good. The track doesn't do much more than play the source. That's not as good. You'll need to interpret it more, write an original section that fits in with the source... or even one that's part source. Change the chords, stuff like that. 0:47-1:20 could be cut completely, or rewritten, it's really nothing but repetition of what we've already heard atm. Since you say you're rather new to remixing, I assume you haven't written much original works either. The writing needs to be more of an interpretation, not a redo, of the source. Practice writing. And practice messing with the sounds and effects, Radiowar's right about this sounding FL-ish, it's too raw, unprocessed. A note about the drums tho: while Radiowar's right about the drums being a good choice, the drums of course need to be processed before they're OCR-passable. That means tweaking velocities, compressing and EQing them, stuff like that. Also, read these. So in a nutshell, work a bit on the writing, toy with the program, read the guides, interpret it more. This is isn't bad for a newb. Good luck remixing.

Thank you all so much, feels great to see the track is so appreciated. When you're mixing it, you kind'a get tired of it, so I'm not sure I understand how you can all like it that much, but hey, I don't mind. Forgot to thank djp for the kind writeup. Yeah, the writeups are all positive, but... still. I did Aeropolis the week after first subbing this, it's just waiting to be posted now, so it'll be a few months. The style is... different. You'll see.

Read this and these, especially the last two scales. Hm, I'm realizing I've been misusing the term key signature. Basically, instead of cdefgabc, the egyptian-sounding writing is more like cc#efg#abc. Not sure what key your track is in, so the actual notes are probably different. This is essentially about the gaps between the notes used, another way of saying it would be that it's about the notes that are _not_ used. I want you to write some source-like original or semi-original sections in the same style - using the same notes. The melody can, and should, be different, you can change the chords and bass and everything, but use the same notes, the same pitches. You know, I might just as well say it as simple as it gets, no confusion: write something original that sounds like it's part of the source.

Gonna add that I was on Safari, not Firefox. Probably doesn't make a difference to the fix tho.

You'll probably get better results by suggesting the saying is awesome and giving a youtube link to one or two of the tracks, some good examples that you want remixed. There's little point in suggesting a whole album project when we're struggling just to get our current projects done. Lots of projects run dry because interest wanes or there wasn't enough interest to begin with.

Yeah, someone's apparently reported Aplus as being a phishing site. Anything on web.aplus.net gets the warning. it seems. Strangely, web.aplus is, www.aplus isn't.

Not sure what you mean with partition. Is your problem dealing with the seemingly random letters and numbers in rows and columns? If so, look for something with a piano roll. If you're not too picky to chose something other than a tracker, try Reaper. Or ask OverCoat. D:

Hm... I'm surprised I didn't see this one among the remixes with few reviews before. Anyway, this is an awesome track. Yeah, it's a bit old, but there's nothing that really bothers me unless I listen with headphones, and even then it's enjoyable. It's got great feel, one of those positive tracks that puts a smile on my face. It's also a nice contrast to the more recent remix of the same source, which is so much more ambient. They complement each other well.

As if that pic wasn't good enough, I expect Coop to make or dig up a "nice baby" pic or something like that. In before "nice baby" pic.

Guys, may I state that those rebuttals (BGC's) are not just bad, they're downright awful. But this isn't about the vote, BGC's qualifications, TheLeviathan's mix, and not really about BGC's posts here either. As I see it, this is about how submissions should be treated, which isn't with tasteless analogies and that kind of unprofessional attitude. Next time I submit something, I hope the judges won't be in that kind of bad mood, simply because while I can take a NO and go back and work on the track, I'd be offended if I got the kind of unprofessional response that BGC provided after his original vote. Drama? this.... is... OCREMIX!!

Yeah, just review songs. Especially these. And these. And maybe these. But not this. Also, OA-dada? If so, congrats.

No source links, so let's see what I recognize and remember. Let's have a look at your own crits first... Too liberal - well, I recognized the magus battle, but you're probably right. Ouch! - just the noise, and a shrill lead at 2:05. Overcompressed - a little. Mixing is muddy - kind'a. And Too much.... Thought... - No. What? Why? Okay, lets talk about this. You knew this was coming... Harpsi in the intro is pretty cool, but it's got a lot of competition, EQ the tracks so they're separate enough. One of your guitars is terribly noisy and distorted. Could probably work just as well with aggressive staccato strings, there's nothing inherently guitar-y int he writing. And nothing says you can't distort orchestral samples. I'm with Splinter on the repetitive soundscape, needs more change, needs more dynamics too. Make a softer section in there somewhere, fading in the rhythm guitar would make an excellent outro from a soft section. There's also some unnecessary repetition in the writing, that you could either vary or just cut out. Piano has way to much reverb, even for that high-range reverbed sound. It just turns into high-range mud, especially with the reflections from the harpsi in the intro. Also, need more source. Is there really no source during the first minute? Needs source there too. Gah, I saved this for last in the wip run, and now I'm too tired to focus, youm might notice a slight lack of direction in the crits. I'll be back when it's updated and ruin another day. Funny thing that you expect me to ruin your day, cuz that just made my day.

No source link, no source comment. Yeah, strings in the intro are a little too keyboard-y, and the percussion is a little.. idunno, plinging. Plinging might work, but not the strings. Staccato strings could use some more weight behind them, especially the higher notes, they're weak. overall, the track seems to lack weight, punch, bass, MOAR POWAH! Arrangement sounds pretty promising, tho the percussion could use some more variation. Maybe there is variation, the plingy sound might just be throwing me off.

No source link, no source comment. A little too much and too long ppl ambience in the intro, but the strings come in beautifully. Then the track gets more average when the drums come in, but with the right drums, it could work wonderfully. Watch the balance, you've got things a little too far panned, until the bells cam in, it sounded like everything was in the left channel. Those bells could need some work too, they kind'a blend together with other tracks a little too much, you might want to shove them in the background. Your lead woodwind seems to be lacking higher frequencies, making it sound a little painful, especially panned in one ear. It also needs some EQ separation from the bells. Separation by panning just blends them together here. Piano also blends together, you gotta get separate your tracks more. Drop their mids, raise a more narrow band on each of them, make sure they're all different. The track is a bit too repetitive. Needs more variation. Has potential, but needs work. Good luck with it.

Sadly, the source links don't work. Zophar is down, and khinsider doesn't let me listen. Can't comment on source. Anyway, this is pretty. Had it playing while downloading other wips. Could use some more dynamics, there's a lot of sustained notes that all start of a little soft, fade up to full strength and stay there. Needs a little more volume/intensity tweaks on them, sometimes faster fades, sometimes slower, and sometimes, they should fade back down again. That means a lot of tweaking with automation, or having multiple tracks of the same instruments, just different envelopes. Different attack, decay, and sustain levels. That's what I've got. The intro is a little sudden, but that and the whiny tone of the high strings (dynamics, and some EQ or different tremolo could change that) are my only real complaints, the rest is just ordinary crits. Good stuff.

Yeah, the drums could use some more punch (usually by boosting a narrow band around 80-150Hz, that's where it is for the bass drum anyway, and using compression and other effects right.). Have no idea how you've processed them, but read up on drum processing. There's a few threads on ocr, and google is your friend. Also, read zircon's compendium, all 5 parts. You'll probably find something you didn't know there, something you can learn from and use, not just on drums. Also, consider using other samples. The snare you've got doesn't have much energy., mostly sounds like white noise on a volume curve. The synths here are a little uninteresting, we've covered that already. the writing is pretty competitive, all the tracks are fighting for attention. EQ the background track to cover less used frequency ranges and not compete with the lead. That way, it'll still sound rich without sounding cluttery. At 3:30 it's especially noise, so listen to that while working with the EQ and levels. yes, levels, you should work with the volueme lvels too, not turn everything up to arghloud, as that'll just screw with dynamics, either by pushing compression or clipping most of the time. Or both. Writing is still pretty uninterpretive. There's some nice sections in this, but the actual source use needs more interpretation. I checked the source. Lots and lots of crits. This is how you learn, and I can hear that you're learning and improving. I mena, I don't mind the mids now. Keep at it. Good work so far.

Random swede on an... Australian label? What is this, the internet? Stupid myspace thinks I'm finnish-speaking. Anyway, best to not use myspace for wips, btw, the compression can cut some frequencies, dynamics, overall quality. Anyway, Tomorrow's low on source. Comparing to source, it wasn't much I recognized. I like the production, altho it uses the same voice clips over and over, and the writing is pretty simplistic. Drum writing is fine, lots of good stuff there, but the rest... simplistic, not very interesting, and low on source. The Fortress has a lot more source, easily recognized in the intro. I'm no fan of voice clips, but they worked better in Tomorrow than in this one. Felt less appropriate here. Sound effects might work occasionally, but the repeated use of the shattered glass clip or whatever it was... not pretty. Anyway, source was easier to hear here, well interpreted, but not enough of it, imo. Production might be on OCR's level but I'm not sure arrangement is, and certain that the source use isn't (unless I'm being source-deaf again), Larry's stopwatch alone would probably NO them before they made it to the panel. That being said, you seem to have what it takes to get a track on OCR, just gotta work on the interpretation. And if you're not aiming for OCR, I gotta ask why you're remixing vgm yet don't make it recognizable enough for a random listener like me to hear the source well. In any case, good production, not enough source, imo.

Still too much reverb.. or you forgot to update the file. Piano sounds pretty far from the listener. Would work great for an intro, that sound, but it needs to be more intimate later on. Like at 0:55, the part beginning there could come in on a much closer piano. Or earlier (like at 0:31), your call. Starting at :55 is another iteration anyway, another repetition, so you could change that up. Speaking of repetition, this is pretty repetitive and not that different from source (aside from the adaptation to piano). It could use some change in rhythm, playing style, instrumentation (like adding a pad or strings in the background), chord progression, a variation of the melody or an extended rewritten version of it. Needs a little more variation. Just moving the left-hand writing down an octave would be a change, tho you'll need to do more than that if you're aiming for OCR-level arranging. The piano also feels panned a bit too far to the right. Works for an intro, not for the bulk of the track. Wave samples are pretty, very calming, definitely worth keeping, just not for the whole track. You could fade those out at 1:00, only bring them back for the ending. Well, that's the "more in-depth analysis" I promised. It's by no means bad or unpleasant, it's just lacking the level of interpretation and production OCR is looking for. Definitely worth developing.

Interesting how TheLeviathan seems to deal with criticism better than BGC.