Rozovian

It started off good, but when the pizzicato strings come in, it just sounds... well, bad. The first two minutes sound ok otherwise, altho they do get a little repetitive, and you could use some more melody in it. High strings, the violin from the end of the track, or a woodwind or two, something to make it more than just pretty chords. Those snare rolls are horrible. In fact, most of your percussion is subpar. See if you have any other samples to use. Also, the drive in the track is in the pizzicato strings, and they don't sound particularily good. Also, you could use more lows. More bass. You've got very hard transitions. The arrangement doesn't sound like it's a medley to me, mostly because I don't know the source tunes. I did a quick check, and recognized enough. Fix the transitions, and it should be a more coherent remix. You've got some good backing tracks, good writing. I hope that's not ripped from source. Production is okay, imo. You could use a little panning, especially in the end. Dynamics need some work; the track gets kind'a empty sounding at times (e.g. ending, around 3:00). Consider adding something to play there. You're also having the opposite problem at time, it gets too even, too thick, too similar for too long. You need to vary stuff more. You've got legato strings from around 0:30 to just before 3:00. You need some variation here. Drop them all an octave, have them play shorter notes, something. Overall pretty impressive, but it's not realistic sounding, and it's still a stretch from being OCR-level material. It sounds like you could make it OCR-level material tho. Good luck with it.

Not my genre. And I have no idea what you're talking about. It's kind'a cluttered, you should see if EQ could dampen some of the background things so they don't interfare with whatever your main rhythm is. You may have to move stuff around, tho. It's all kind'a exposed and unprocessed. EQ to filter out redundant frequency ranges and dampen ones that are cluttering. Drums lose their energy once the track gets going, so you should probably compress it more. Drum panning is a little annoying too, especially the snare. It's also repetitive. That could be genre thing, tho I recommend doing some slight variations anyway. Melodic changes in the lead, changes in the chord progression, fills for the drums, stuff like that. Consider changing up the arrangement and not just the individual part writing. Overall, the writing sounds okay, arrangement is a bit weak, production decent, at least for an amateur. Then again, it's not my genre, so what do I know? Well, I know I listened to it 4 times or so, so it's not unbrearable despite the genre and the issues. That means it's worth working on. Good luck with it.

Knowing your way around the toolbox does not mean you can assemble car engines. But you seem to know enough to fix a flat, and I think that's enough for this track.

Report it to youtube. And bombard the kid with technical questions about them. Say they're awesome, suggest he submit them to remix sites. Ask about sample libraries, DAW, effects, number of tracks, etc... Or refer to him, in those comments, as the artists he's ripped off. "Hey McVaffe, great remix!" etc.. And _then_ start calling him a thief, unless youtube's gotten to him first.

I didn't say the source was bad, I said it was stupid. Of course it's a matter of taste. I've just heard that childrens' song too much. If you have any questions about terminology, production, creative, or ocr-standards-related, just ask. And google is your friend, too

Usually, people ignore the pan feature. You, on the other hand, totally overdid it. The stereo soundscape in the first section after the intro is a little too wide, at least without a clear lead to follow. imo, anyway. Drums... The samples sound pretty good to me, but the panning is a problem. Kick and snare belong in the middle, and breaking that convention makes the track annoying to listen to. Guitars are noisy, and the whole soundscape could use some serious EQ cuts to clear it up. Yes, it needs to be cleared up. You've also mixed everything very loud. Bring down everything by 10 dB and then raise the stuff you need. If it's too soft, use a compressor/limiter on the master to take it back to 0dB. Source is definitely there, tho someone who's heard the source more could tell if it's up to OCR's standards of interpretation. The writing, overall, it a little repetitive, but you manage to keep it fresh with breaks and weird effects. That's where your drum panning would actually serve some use besides from annoying the listener - as an effect that you use once or twice. You could still use some more variation in stuff, imo. Overall, this is a fairly good wip, but it's got loads of production issues. You obviously know your way around the toolbox, so I have no doubt you'd be able to clean this up with secateurs and varnish. Good luck with it.

Stupid source, makes me think of a really annoying childrens' album from my part of the world. Anyway, since it's admittedly a midi rip at this point I'm not gonna comment more on the source. Production is okay for a newb. Your electric guitar would sound better if it was a clean sample put through a number of effects (distortion and/or overdrive, autofilter, amp simulator, reverb, possibly delay). That'll make it richer, fatter, and you'd have more control over it. Drums are weak. You'll want compression on the snare and kick, reverb on the snare and cymbals, EQ on all of it. You'll want to enhance the punch of the kick and snare (kick tends to have punch in the 50-200Hz range, snare in the upper half of that), as well as drop some frequencies in the middle, at least for the kick. The snare could use a boost somewhere other than the punch area, but it's impossible to say where without hearing your snare, and I'm not sure I have the ears to tell anyway. Try around 500Hz and move up until it sounds better. The hihats generally need to lose a lot of lows and mids. And you should add crashes. Crashes follow the same settings as hihats, except they shouldn't lose as much mids and lows. While on the EQ topic, most tracks are eventually gonna need some EQ. But that's a later headache, just like master EQ, master compression, and all that. Lead needs to be more alive. It sounds like a modulated waveform, but you should add some human qualities to the lead writing as you work on the track. Little stuff, like longer notes, raise/lower velocities where it sounds good, pitch bends, stuff like that. And then you need a bass. The guitar stuff you've got does go low enough for this not to be missing the lows, but you could go lower. As you write, you may want to add stuff like a pad, another lead, some ambient texture (aka weird pad), fills for the drums, stuff like that. As for writing, you're gonna be needing to write stuff that's fitting for the source but that isn't just a repetition of source backing. You'll need some new chords, or put the chords in a new progression. You might need new rhythms, new backing tracks, another lead (which needs lead writing and can't just copy what you got from source), etc. The best suggestion I have is to listen to stuff in similar genres or with a sound that you want to have in this, and figure out how they got that sound and how you could. Use the internet, the Remixing subforum, and wip board. Good luck.

Are you familiar with time signatures? The miniboss source is 3/4 while your track is 4/4. Anyway, you've got 765_123_ (not sure about the tuning on my guitar so I can't say for sure what notes you've got). I suggest you move the 1 one step back, making it 7651_23_ instead. See if you like that better. The bass needs to be lower. Drop it an octave (12 steps). If it doesn't sound good, use another bass. What you need is filler. Filler can be pretty much anything, but chords work well. Long notes, no melody. Those short brass notes that you've got, use those on another instrument, move them down an octave, and make them longer, so long that they almost overlap. Use an isntrument that works with long notes. That should take care of your emptiness problem. Just don't have them play all the time. Also, you can space them up so they'd take twice as long to play the same thing. Then you'd have variation in the filler. You're heading the right way, man. Great job so far.

There's a couple of sounds I'm really impressed by, those really brass stabs are just too cool. No doubt that this is an improvement, both overall and with details like those. Four things bother me tho: 1) Clashing notes. Normally, you'd avoid having both a c# and a d played simultaneously, but these sources might require it. When the miniboss notes start playing, the c# feels clashing. I can't say for sure that's what it is, but something is clashing. One solution to this would be to apply some _slight_ panning to get the two away from each other. That way, they won't clash as much. Would be better to fix that in the writing, but with sources like these and with your skill level, it's best not to get too far into rewrites. Panning should help, just don't overdo it. Not more than 10 minutes (imagine it being a clock) on the pan knob. 2) Staggering drums. It's a little annoying to expect to hear the fourth note and not get it. It's a cool writing effect that you could - and should - utilize. Just not that often. Add a shaker or hihat note to most of those instances. Think about where you want the track to feel like it just stops, and keep this effect there. 3) No bass instrument. Simple solution: add one. Easiest writing would either have a long note or a lot of shorter ones, and they'd all be the same key (e.g. c#). Then, when the rest of the track moves to another key, another chord, another root note, the bass moves too. The nine first notes (preboss source) would be in one root note, the following in another. For most of the time, I think you could have the bass follow the short notes, tho during the louder miniboss sections, you might want to follow that source instead. It would move on the fourth note (fourth note would be another root). 4) Slow attack on the miniboss theme. I recommend you change samples. If you have any other brass samples, try those. At least for the instances where it's in the foreground. It's not as big a deal while it's in the bg. Yep, it's getting better. It's minimalistic, but that's kind'a what you were going for.

The guy has colonitis, right? He'll be happy to hear anything made for him. Just like a grandma. Practice makes pancakes. The more, the better. Means your wips might not be edible, but the more you make, the better they get... and the better YOU get. I'm also getting a lot out of helping you with this. I have to re-examine the music theory I find myself having taken for granted. Not everyone is as picky as OCR. There'll be stuff to enjoy in this... if you put enough work into it. I'm already hearing some. Hopeless? No way.

Okay, let's start by talking about drums, you're best off using presets. Drums tend to need compression, EQ, and some reverb. Snare and bass drum need compression, or else they'll be too loud. Compression pushes down volume but keeps the energy. Give them a preset "drum kit compression". You need to process the hihats separately. Use the EQ to remove the low range, reduce the mids. Apply some reverb to all this. Not much, just enough to hear it. -- Your instrument choices might be a problem. It's difficult to make stuff sound good, and to have them sound both good and real is even more so. Strings are fairly easy to work with because they have a padlike quality to them. It become mores like an organ with woodwinds, and sampled brass... Well imo it sounds synthetic most of the time. But try using brass, change stuff up, see what sounds better. -- Chords are when you have (usually) three notes that create a particular feel. For example, CEG sounds happy, EGB sounds sad. With a track like this, you're best off not getting too far into the chords, so let's use two-note "chords" instead. When you have a c# in the melody, you can use a lower c# and a g# for backing. Use a pad for backing, it makes it a little easier to work with. The miniboss theme lends itself well to these two chords: c# g# and d a. After three notes, switch to the other. With bass, I meant an instrument. Most instruments with a short attack work ass bass, but you're better off finding a sample/synth setting itnended as a bass. Bass needs to stay on the same key as the chords. On that, you can play C#C#C#C#DDDD or C#C#C#C#DDDDG#G#G#G#AAAA. (if it sounds completely terrible, it could be bad tuning on my guitar which I used to guess your ntoes. Move the chords and the bass up or down one step, see if it sounds better). Note that the feel might be closer to the game if you play the chords and bass at half speed. You let them go on for twice as long before changing. It might get a little too dissonant, but it could work. Another, even simpler approach, would be to have a pad play c# for a few beats, then not play at all. They play again. Once again, this would suit the source material well, tho I recommend you try out the previous suggestions first so you get a feel for the notes. -- Finally, apply reverb to all the instruments. I already said the drums shouldn't have much. Well, the others shouldn't either, but they can have more than the drums. -- You've picked some troublesome sources. Neither conforms to a standard scale, they're both taking one seminote at a time. On one hand, this makes it difficult to work with it. On the other hand, an interesting source means it'll be an interesting track, at least if you know the source well. Post again when you've got something.

Intro beeps could lose some low end. Second and fourth bass notes in the intro (pre 0:40) seem to clash with key. The rest sounds good to me, tho you could bring in the intro beeps some time after 3 mins, it gets kind'a repetitive by then.. Gonna be pwnsome when it's done, methinks. Ending is great.

Waay tooo dryyy. And too simple. Add some chords or backing notes. Add hihats earlier... or a shaker or a high-range rhythmic pad. Add bass. Add a little reverb on everything ('cept bass drum). Use another snare/clap if reverb doesn't improve what you've got Add a crash when the hihats stop. Add a final note after what you've got. Then the ending is... better. Add stuff.

Note to self: recheck any and all numbers before posting. Yep, further improvements. Hihats sound a little trashy, try cutting out more of the lows and mids. Also, add _more_ highs or high mids on the master EQ. Raise the levels for the crashes, and drop the levels for that one loud lead in the end. See if you can vary the melody. Some slight rhythmic variations, or changing up the melody when it loops so you have source verbatim once and then a different version on it. Of course, I still haven't checked out the source, so I couldn't tell the difference anyway. I think you do need some more interpretation in the lead melody from source. At least vary the looped versions a little. Most, if not all your improvements since last version seem successful. I've got two key production issues: hihats and master EQ. Apply a multiband compressor to the master, see how some presets bring out different things in the track. As for the creative, you need some more variation in your melodies. Once verbatim, once different, and that should have solved it. Yep, doing great.

There's his problem, Snap. I dunno FL very well. I've seen it once or twice on a friend's computer. Afaik, FL uses patterns, and then you can set these patterns to loop. Figure out how to write and insert a new pattern, or stop looping and just write the whole track in the same pattern. I could be wrong. Where are the FL users?

This is so not my genre. But with stuff like this, it's not just tolerable, it's enjoyable. Could be my favourite remix of this source (sorry djp and others). Wide variety of sounds used, which prevents it from being repetitive despite being an often remixed source. My only complaint is the somewhat abrupt ending, but it's a lonely issue on its side of the scale. Completely irrelevant: I seem to get news of new tracks from the reviews subforum more often than fropm the ocr front page. A djp post on ther reviews forum usually means new remix.

This is pretty cool. It does get repetitive fast, so you might want to work on that a bit. For a track just over 3 minutes, it's a bit too repetitive. That's really my only criticism.

Snare stands out in a bad way. Too dry. Lead could use some octave doubling or otherwise more presence. Sounds fairly good on its own, but it's struggling to be heard otherwise. Guitar-ish synth sounds appropriately guitary and still having a significant chiptune feel. I'm impressed. It is a little repetitive after 23 minutes, consider dropping out the drums and the old lead for variation. That's my comments. Too lazy to look up source. Great wip man, huge improvements. Great work!

Trance strings seem to clash with the feel of the track. Might work if you automate the cutoff and keep it low most of the time. I like the instrumentation otherwise, and mixing is okay. Synth guitar sounds a little too much like a synth imitating a guitar. It's in limbo: not enough synth, not enough guitar. Make it more synthy or more guitar-ish. I've had problems with synth guitars myself tho, so you might want to wait for other ppl's feedback on that and not taking my word for it. Starting with just beat doesn't sound good imo, at least not when it's looped. Play it once and it's okay, 3 times is just playing time. Could be longer. The 007-ish chords from source (the source I found anyway) could work well into the track, especially for the current ending - it could be a bridge into a last chorus or a chorus-like take on some other piece of the track. Then you'd solve the length problem I also have - it's short. Bass seems to meander around a little too much at times. At the third chord, first chord progression it just doesn't sound good, last chords in the second progression sound even worse. I know the first example is in key and fits the chord, but I'm not sure about the second. Consider experimenting with the bass writing at those instances, might turn out better. Overall quality is pretty good. I've mostly got writing issues with this wip, aside from the way too loud open trance strings, but cutoff automation should fix that nicely. So, great work so far!

It has an overall clear sound, perhaps a little too clear. Consider widening the sound of the strings by having different strings play the same thing. You'll get a richer sound and not change the harmonies. Or perhaps that's exactly what you should do, add notes so there's chords rather than single notes. See what works best. Source is there, so's interpretation. The arrangement is great, imo, tho the middle sections might be a bit too repetitive. Some variation in the percussion writing would be nice. The percussion is also a little weak, lacks bass. The hits in the end are especially weak, see if you can add a lower bass, drum, low strings, or just EQ it. Dunno what would work best, so experiment. Take a backup before making any big changes tho. Overall, this is very promising, could get on OCR some time.

Repetitive, and doesn't come with much new stuff, just a sound upgrade from source. The pad in the end is a bit clashing with the melody, tho. I like the sound it has, tho you should fix the problems with key. Sounds are noisy and sharp, which generally isn't a bad thing, but with the track essentially being source on repeat+some backing tracks and modifications, it gets boring. Sorry, it does. More variation in both arrangement and soundscape. The pinao section was good, tho I'd soften or lose the bass you've got there. It's got a coherent sound, but it needs to be more interpretive imo. Repetition is your biggest problem with this, repetition in arrangement, sound, and sequencing. More variation to everything, some structural changes, and it'll have improved significantly. Source is definitely there, and this is a quite enjoyable redo of it. But it can be better.

You need to compress the bass drum a lot. The track is too quiet, but you've got some high peaks. Limiter on the master, compression on percussion, possibly on bass too. It's also very simple, both arrangement and processing. It's also repetitive and short. Not sure about the source. It sounds nothing like the nes source I found, so if you're using another source, link it. Overall, this is repetitive and unrefined. And short. It has a kind'a nice feel tho, so it's worth working on.

I'm not as optimistic as Therapsid, but the track does have potential. The guitars and sharp synths could use some more variation in overall tone and sound, and the drums need a bit more processing imo. It also feels a little lacking in the high range, but that's nothing a few levels change and some subtle master EQing won't fix. Dunno whether Dino Run qualifies as a remixable source or not, but it's certainly worth submitting once you guys feel you've gotten enough feedback and done enough fixes. The track doesn't need a full overhaul, just some fixes, it's pretty good. But it could still be better.

...from Zelda II.

Humanization is when you turn mechanical, sequenced notes into something that sounds more like it's being played by a human. It usually involves changing note lengths, velocities, and position, but can include stray notes, pitch bends, tremolo, vibrato, swing, stuff like that. Additionally, envelope settings can change with velocity and other attributes, and if you know how to use, it, use it. For example, an envelope with a slow attack would be great for a vibrato or tremolo built into the sampler, it's one way to turn flutes and occasional other isntruments a little more human. Empty, as it's being used here, is when you've got only a handful of instruments occupying a handful of the frequencies, leaving holes in the frequency range. Look at how your track looks on a spectrum view. While some styles pretty much need holes, it doesn't quite work in your case. Listen to some OCR tracks and you should hear a more full sound. The simple solution would be for you to take some background strings and play chords in the background, though the more melody you can have there without taking the attention from the lead, the better. Your track has only a few instruments playing simultaneously, and none of them occupy a broad band of frequencies. The piano seems to be played one-handed a lot, single notes most of the time. Chords or just octaves would even out some of the holes. Having it two-handed would be better. The second section, with choir and drums cover the range a bit better, but the samples are a bit too exposed. Here, the solution would be EQ, reverb, and compression. The drums need compression, everything else needs reverb, all of it could use some EQing. Refer to the various Guides for assistance, I wouldn't be much help there. If you have some kind of spectrum analyser or some other ways of seeing what frequencies you've got on each track, you could map these out and see where you need more stuff. For example, around 0:40, you've only got piano, a flute of some kind, and some wind-like bg sounds, you could use something in the high range there, as well as more full piano writing (full, as in having simulatneous notes). Another example is closer to the end: before the strings end you've got a frequency hole at 500Hz. Having something in the 400-700Hz range would be good (notes in the G3-G4 range). As for the production things I couldn't analyse before, you've got a fairly empty and dry sound. More reverb, richer writing, some preset drum compression and a bit of EQ on instruments that stand out a little too much (like the harp/guitar in the end) and you should have a well-improved wip. That's a few practical pointers. Listen to some other works in similar genres and try to figure out what makes them sound richer, fuller, and more complete. Your remix/tribute is empty, exposed, mechanical, and dry. It's not BAD, it's just doesn't sound complete. Here's a few more tracks I'd recommend you'd try to learn from these: Electric Fields, All the World in One Girl, Dreamer, Lanterns, Afternoon Tea With SnappleMan's Mom, and The WInds of Inishmore. There's a load of other tracks to pick and choose between, but here's some. Good luck, hope this helps.