Rozovian

Compare it to other artists' finished works. If theirs sound over-powered too, your Winamp EQ settings are crazy. If theirs sound okay, try to get yours to sound okay too. Turn off the EQ and compare. As for the drums - either use them or don't. I'm not sure it counts as trance without the drums. Where's Boz whn you need him, he's knows electronica better than I do.

I think you should raise the master EQ bass a bit, it sounds a bit weak. Drums lack punch, which could be a volume thing, a sample thing, an EQ thing, or a compression thing. Bass is an octave too high sometimes, and a few dB too low. Guitars sound good to me, although a bit generic. Is it still in touch with the source? That's some quick feedback. I'll leave it short and simple. Your question: What do I mean with mid highs? Uh, I might just as well have meant high mids. I don't honestly remember. Essentially, divide the EQ into three bands, and mid highs is smack in the middle of the highest band. Altho I now feel that's all right, but you need more bass, possible some mids too. This is really cool, but I'm at the end of reviewing all new WiPs and updates after a few days' absence, so I'm a little deaf to awesome. I blame Sixto. That's why I'm not sounding very impressed. Honestly, I would be.

Hosts: I've heard Mediafire.com, Sendspace.com, and Tindeck.com are good hosts. My personal favourite from a reviewer POV is tindeck. Anyway, lead (bell-like) is too loud and drums too soft. it's really thick, this WiP,work with levels and EQ to separate stuff and get it more balanced. And more volume to the drums, I wasn't even hearing them some of the time. Intro is a bit long, but it could just be that there's not enough fade time on the piano. It might need (okay, typing is slow with newgrounds playing it in the bg, get another host!) ...where was I, it might need reverb, more release time or sustain pedal automation. Melodically, it's really cool, but mixing needs balancing. I can't comment on drum processing or anything without hearing them, nobody can. You need to level things out more. You ALSO need a better host! Fix the levels and stuff, and come show us this again. This sounds really likeable.

Wow, 20 seconds in, I'm thinking "pretty". Then it got "cool". Close to 1:00 it was still cool, but not as impressive. Then there was variation, and it got "interesting". At about 1:30 it changed again, and it's throughout "quirky" and "cool". And unpredictable. That's just the first two minutes. Replace any of the words in quotation marks with "awesome" for an equally true but more repetitive review. 3:07 stop. I'll save the rest for when it's on the front page.

My guess is that Leif had it looping or something. Other than that I have no idea. Btw, sorry about the atrocious tyops in my last post. I gotta say, despite my instinctual reaction not to agree with Leif, I found myself having trouble to stay listening to this track. More variation, melodic, chord-wise, key-wise. You've got the greaty cameo section, and some other cool parts, but it's mostly repetitive. Long into, long body, long ending. Cut repetition or make it more varying. Production is sounding as good as I can help you get it. I still recommend running it by the production experts on #ocrwip. Good job, tho, man!

I'll wait to go in-depth (if I've got something to say) 'til the leads are in. First impressions: sixto guitar awesomeness as usual.

Leads aren't loud enough, too much emphasis on drums and bass - in a dnb track, seriously. Drums and bass should drive the track, dominate it, but not at the expense of turning the lead into a backing melody. DnB experts, correct me if I'm wrong. This doesn't sound good on headphones, it's some instruments reach too far up the frequency range, and they're all failing to make themselves well heard over the drums and bass. I guess this just isn't my genre. 3 and a half minutes is enough for me. It's way too big for OCR anyway. Dude, 13 megs! Mixing needs work, you're overdoing the drums and the bass. The melodies are nicely incorporated into the genre tho, and while it gets pretty repetitive, it does have a cool sound. If you're trying to get this on ocr, start cutting out length and repetition, and drop the bass' and drums' levels. If not... Well, I dunno.

lol @ Escariot. Cool breaks... chops... cuts... stuff. You know. They're cool. I'm not very fond of the solo guitar sound you've got, it's a little unorganic on the long notes. A really faint auto-wah might help, automatic it would be better. I dunno, this is pretty cool otherwise, but the guitar sound is a bit distracting in its simplicity. There's an annoying swishy effect on the repeated arpeggio-synth-thing. But the intro sounds less newby, so good job on that. The hihats feel artificial during the "verse", but I guess that's just the sound you're going for. Drums are a little too choppy during that too repeated pre-ending section. Also, I'm missing the ending. This is a bit like Hostile and Cuddly that starts with a great buildup, hits a great chorus, then spends the rest of the track fading out. You've got the first half great, but the second half is just all ending, no climax, or any other "closure" to the track. You're even setting one up with the guitar fading in towards the end, around 2:38-47. perfect place to repeat "chorus" with even more awesomeness and _then_ end the track. There's also some production issues I can't put my finger on, you should ask someone with better production ears for some feedback. Overall, great (I caught myself playing this in my head), just feels a bit incomplete.

This is pretty awesome! Seriously, if you've got the time and want to remix this, do it. I like what I hear. The kick sounds a little dry, tho, but I'm not a production expert - and I have no problem with it. Just in case you haven't been around since 2002, there's submission standards to conform to.

It has some weird phasing or flanger color that's screwing with the panning. Seriously, get rid of that, it's really annoying. Other than that, this is pretty cool. The guitar sounds awful man, see if you can use something else or have someone record some guitar for you. Arrangement is cool, but there's those pesky production issues to deal with. I've got no problem with the mixing, but there's instrument tweaks, and that dang modulation effect that you should get rid of. BRAWL!!

Shinny, how did this happen? Weeks without a reply. What did you do? Right, you remixed a track everyone's heard so many versions of. But it's okay, I'm here now. I'd use more reverb on the strings and the flute. From 0:59 forward, you should establish the rhythm that the bells bring at 1:13, and the drums later on, they're all kind'a playing to their own rhythm. Make them play along. You should drop the bells somewhere during the calm mid section 1:43-2:57. That's a pretty long calm section anyway, you could try to shorten it. it would sound awesome if you'd drop the tempo a bit for that section and go back to the current tempo during the last section. Anyway, the sound you've got now is more realistic, but less pretty. It feels more generic. Then again, the production is better enough to bring out another issue: progression. It's nice, what's you've got, but it's the same old progression we've all heard before. I don't think this is gonna stand out, it needs something extra, like having its progression backwards. The order of the sections I mean, not the melodies or the whole track. You could start with the section you had last, work your way through the calm section to a climactic finish, then have it die out. Just an idea. Backup before experimenting. Still, it has potential, but you're gonna have to work hard to get it to the level the FF7 project got it.

Good source, I remember playing this. The WiP feels weaker than the source. It's too minimal, and the drums are way too loud. I think the sound is okay, but it needs to be more full. Add bass, your should probably also add a mid-range staccato string loop doubling whatever high-range picked isntrument you've got (doubling it an octave or two down). More harmonies, more richness, more fullness, more stuff. And drop the drum volume. This could turn out pretty cool, so keep working on it.

Some crashes sound a bit weak on their own. Add the bass drum to them, drop them, or see what else you can do about it. The voice in the break sounds better now. "Let's go" should either be dropped or louder. The piano additions sound good to me. The "yippee" is cut off in the end. WT_? Nothing to say except that. I can't hear anything else that needs to be fixed. I don't yet have the production ears I should, but I can spot a well produced track. Once those little details are fixed, I think this is ready to be submitted. It's got the structure, it's got the sound, the source is there, it's enjoyable to listen to... I'm not a judge, but if I were, I'd YES this. Awesome job.

Still hearing that ticking sound. Use headphones, listen to the intro, see if you can hear it. It still feels a bit empty in terms of the frequency balance, still not enough mid range stuff. Some of the low piano stuff could go up an octave, since bass and bass drum cover the low range. The disrtorted lead... Dunno why I didn't react to it before... If you want a real guitar, you gotta record it (or ask someone else to do it for you). if you want a fake guitar, you should make it sound more fakey so people won't mistake it for a wannabe guitar. It does work as it is, but it could still need some tweaks. Do save your settings before messing with them. Not much else I can say, it's pretty good now. If you're fmailiar with irc, go to #ocrwip and ask people there what they think. If anyone actually around.

The chopped up vocals bothers me. The verse sounds slightly out of synch, probably due to the upped tempo. Production is fairly good, but most instruments seem to lack bass. The bass could be an octave lower too, and sound less creaking (I don't know how else to describe it). Drums sound mostly good. Bass drum and snare are good. Hihats sound phased and/or flanged, and some of them sound a bit ticking. Overall, this sounds decent, but it's a number of fixes away from being OCR material. Consider asking Aku to record lyrics for the upped tempo. Great work, tho.

Intro still has some newb feel. I can't tell what's really causing it. It could be that the guitar is slightly out of synch, slightly noisy, it could be a lack of some frequencies, it could be that most instruments come in at the same time... I don't know. My best guess is that it's the pad writing that's causing it. It could be more elaborate, play something more melodic, play chords or even octaves, something more. The chord progression could also contribute, but you can change the feel fo the chords by changing theh pad, methinks. Transition into next section is awesome. Hihats could sound more realistic, they're a little too ticking here. Try muting them, add another hihat track, and play around with other hihat samples. The hihat writing is a little too quick for genre-realism too. Sure, you don't have to conform to genres, but it's a bit distracting. Ending with piano sounds great, it's a good ending. Overall, it's got direction, and is structurally OCR-level material. There's a little too much going on in the mid high range, methinks, you might want to EQ the backing guitars a bit more bassy and less trebly, see if it sounds better. A few fixes away from getting a YES from me, but since I don't quite have the production ears I should, that doesn't mean the judges will YES is. But if you fix these, I think it's as good as I can help you get it. Show it to the people on #ocrwip or hope someone with better production ears comes by and finds this thread. You're close, but not quite there yet. Awesome work, tho.

You're getting better lap times, you're handling the curves better... BUT you drove into a tree. I'm gonna share a proverb of my own: Practice makes pancakes - the more, the better. Practice more (make more pancakes), and learn from the ones that didn't turn out great. And from the ones that did. It can be done either way, as long as there is enough change in the overall feel or the overall sound. I mean, a solo piano remix suffers from "the main isntrument is the same" while other remixes switch genre and the entire instrumentation. In your case, you should experiment. If you burn a few pancakes, you know you're doing something wrong, and either go back to something you know works, or keep experimenting. AFAIK, the standard approach when you've already written the main instrument throughout the track is to change the soundscape - the backing instruments and rhythms, the drums, all that. If the lead doesn't fit into the new soundscape, change it. If it does, keep it. or change it, your call. Good luck! It's gonna be interesting to hear your new take on it. Do obsess about it before getting too far on the new version, so you have some new rhythms and ideas for it.

Altho I kind'a agree with the sentiment, it needs a better argument. "Since I won't X, torrenting it is OK?" In other words, since I'm not gonna buy all seasons of House MD on DVD, it's OK to torrent them, or watch them streamed, or have a friend burn me copies of his DVDs. That's why the argument isn't a good one. Sure, exposure and user familiarity might benefit the industry, but the illegal copies hurt the industry financially. Your ISP and your electricity company get paid more than the software companies when you use the software. Is that how it's supposed to be?

4:23? It felt longer when I was about half way through. Anyway, nice cameo of ALttP's castle theme. It sounds like there's some instrument with a ticking low attack. For me, it's usually the bass. Mute everything else and listen to the bass, do notes trigger a ticking sound in addition to the bass? This suffers from being really heavy on the low range, not much in the mids, and then really bright and headache-inducing hihats. It might be a genre thing. I'd drop the highest frequencies of the hihats a little, raise some high mids or mid highs instead. The ending is okay, tho it would feel more complete with something of a finale. Not necessarily a big finale considering the genre, but something. You do have a good ending, with repeating the melody on slower drums, then letting the drums and and the piano echo into the distance. It's a good ending, but it could still use more of a sense of climax before ending, whether melodic, dynamic, or whatever. It works as it is tho. Overall, it gets a little thick during the slow sections, and a little repetitive in the fast ones. If you can, shorten it, kill some repetition. That's about all the feedback I can give. This sounds good to me. Someone with better production ears should have a listen, as there's still some mix and EQ things I imagine will need fixing after you've fixed what I suggested above.

Middle section addition first felt like a medley-itic transition to next source, but you pulled it off. Great work! And great lead for it, too. Also, I'm not hearing the same hard headache-inducing ticking hihat noises in the end this time. Good fix, good addition, good wip. The drums feel a bit cheap, but I can't relaly help you much with that. You should go to #ocrwip for feedback, or hope someone that knows more about drum samples and mixing them finds your wip.

(yawn, long post) Whoa, I had forgotten about this, but it didn't take long to remember. There's some nice new things I'm hearing, but it feels thematically repetitive. I know my current wip isn't any better in that sense, tho. -- Let's talk random details. The square wave or whatever the lead is... It's clear, which is good, but it's a little too clear, too simple. If you can write a good Slayer solo, it might sound better. Guitar panning: Do it once, pan it right. Do it over, pan it left. That will give it a stereo soundscape. If it's all midi, you should use different (but similar) samples for each side. I think the panjumping (in lack of better words) is cool, tho, but for most part, you should use double guitars. Some writing, like the nylon guitar stuff, is a little too simple and exposed. Adding a soft delay might help, but just adding notes to make it sound like more than one string would help. I mean, soft section guitar writing would, even with notes spaced apart, have some more playing. Little melodic snippets, two-three note thingies. A guitar player would be bored if he was told to play that. Use more strings, play slow arpeggiated chords, do something more. And add that soft delay. The EQ is better, and makes the track lose much of it's newby feel. In the end, tho, it's not really helping enough when the arrangement still needs work, and some instruments should be replaced or altered or get an effect or... something. We all know by now that the melody gets really repetitive. Changing chord structure, going from minor to major, it would make it easier to listen to. Changing the rhythm (which i noticed you had done towards the end) would also help. Here's an idea - mute the drums and play around with the writing. Mute the melody, rework the chords and stuff, and then apply the melody and make it fit. Then rewrite drums for that part. -- Overall, this is starting to sound like you're stuck. It's happened to me pretty often. My current wip (which I'm advertizing way too much in this post)... I worked on it in trackers, I worked on it in GarageBand, I've worked on it in Logic... It's been with me for years, I've done many different version of it over the years. Restarting, while frustrating, is sometimes a good thing, because you then have the opportunity to restructure it without having to make the old pieces fit. Hum the melody slower, hum it to new chords, hum it backwards... See what else you can do with it. Even if you're not gonna restart the remix, it can get you ideas for how to improve this version of it. But before you do anything, take a backup of your current version. It's always best to take backups before you make any big changes. -- In conclusion, I feel like this is getting old. You've gotten much better, the track has gotten better, but in the end, the repetition is killing the progress. You can keep working on it, in which case you need to cut it to pieces and stitch it back together in some new fashion, or you can restart it, or retire it and take a new source track. Sorry for the low amount of positive feedback. What are you gonna do now? (hint: take a backup first if you're doing either of the first two options)

lol @ "I'm absolutely not a big advocate of piracy!" (emphasis mine) back in my early days, I didn't have a problem with piracy, but since I'm now aiming for selling my works, working with music professionally, I prefer to have a legal copy of the software, not a pirate copy. Who knows what studio raids anti-pirate agencies are gonna do in the fuuuture... Remember the word piration?

Cool start, gets you right into the track. Anyway, I was listening while going on irc, and I hardly noticed the track ending. It needs a bigger finale. it went to bed of Knives, and I didn't realize it. Needs a bigger finale before ending. Then again, it's still pretty short, so you've got another challenge in making it at least a half minute longer without making it repetitive. Then there's production... which sounds good to me. More material, finale, and ending, and I'd probably YES you if I could. Unless you capitally screw up the yet unwritten part of it. We'll see.

The sound effects during the "whistle" section feel a bit too cheesy. Sure, it's happy hardcore, but still. They're less annoying now, but the ones in the latter half of the "shistle" section feel like they're clashing with the key of the rest of the track. Can you pitch them just enough to make them fit without screwing up with them too much? The "yippee" sound towards the end works much better - and THAT ONE NEEDS MORE VOLUME! Okay, that was unlike me. Allcaps? WT_? Distort the bass drum a little. Besides that, I've got no production issues to say. Skitcool låt. edit: Oh right, it's still a bit on the quiet side.

Weird effect on the vocals. Also, I'm not sure the J's are gonna like them. I don't remember OCR's take on using voice samples from the game, but the J's can answer that better themselves. Besides, those samples get both cheesy and repetitive. Unfortunately, they sound like something of a necessity. See if you can find some musical hook to use instead. The drums still need work. They feel a bit poorly matched. There's a really high-range ticking sound you use as a hihat towards the second half of the track. Doesn't work well, and the panning doesn't really work for it either. I think adding another hihat effect would even it out enough. You know the ending is cut off, so I don't have to point that out to you. I like the ending tho, it cuts down to bass, then suddenly rises again and dies out. That's a good ending for a track like this. I think the bass could use a little more volume, or just EQ'd to ahve a bit more bass. I think there's some frequency rivalry between the bass and another instrument alternating octaves, which is unfortunate. See if you can separate the tracks using EQ by dropping one's low range levels and raising the other's. It's also lacking in the high range. There's some resonance from the "lead" and some other instruments, but ultimately, the way to get a full sound up there is to use a hihat or a more clean hi-range instrument. I recommend hihat for this remix. But overall, it's pretty promising. there's those production issues to deal with, but this track has loads of potential, methinks. As much trouble I'm having getting a key change someplace good in my own wip, this track needs some kind of soundscape change. The section you added passed me by, but the track overall did feel less repetitive than before. I think it still needs a bigger change. Raising everything two semitone towards the end is the classic move, but doing it earlier might work better for this track. I said it before, I'll say it again: "It's not submittable yet, but it sounds interesting enough to be at some point in the near future. Good work!"