Rozovian

Figured it out. One of the files seems to screw up Quicktime Player somewhat. Opens same file twice, for some reason. Hasn't happened to me before, ever. I got it working tho.

*sigh* 10chars

What I got when I downloadded was the same as I got from x-treme games music. Check the file and post again.

Samples, schmamples, but you need more attack for the strings to have any effect, and more authentic sounds. The intro needs waay more authentic sounds as it's all orchestral. Melodically, it's all good, says I. Drums are nice. No decent headphones atm, can't say more in-depth, and probably couldn't hear what could yet be improved anyway. 1:21-2:12, it's pretty much the same thing for a whole minute. Chop chop, get rid of half of it, or move that half to the end of the track and twist it into an ending. Also, bring down the hihats, they're way too loud and just sound stupid. Reverse crash sounds kind'a un-even and low quality, see if you can find or reverse a better sample. The talking synth or weird cutoff/phased thing, whatever it is, it could be used much more. You could use it as a bass, melodic instrument, not just for rhythm and soundscaping. You used it nicely in the beginning, but after it comes in at 1:21, it gets dull pretty quickly. Kick it down an octave. Piano, drums, and soundscape in the end... Nope, doesn't work. It could sound relaly cool, but it doesn't. The piano doesn't get enough attention as it's currently mixed, tho just bringing it up wouldn't help much either, it'd just sound dry and dumb. See what you can do about making the soundscape less rhythmic and drop the drum volume a few dB. That's as in-depth as I'll bother with atm. Good luck!

Okay, new version ready. Haven't yet gone over all of Larry's remarks, but there's some more deviation from the source now. I also added an instrument, replaced another, moved some parts around... If I don't scrap this version and restart the remix using the parts I've now done, I'll probably redo the sitar, try to make the transition into the theme on cello a bit smoother, maybe use another instrument there... But other than that, I think this is ready to submit. Tell me what I missed, what you think, etc.. Oh right, a Link to the Remix. And as mentioned in my chat with Larry, I need a nice name for it. Swordsman doesn't have enough depth to it.

Bump, we're recruiting. And if you're already in the project, we want to hear what you've done so far. For anyone considering joining, Usa said he's got great software instruments (aka samples with settings), so all you need to know is how to arrange, and we (he) can fix the rest.

Quick reply, I'll give you better feedback next version. It would be cool if the progression was different, as this has been heard this over and over in different versions (Prophecy's version comes to mind). It's also very repetitive, so you should either vary stuff way more, or jsut cut it out. The piano is reminiscent of the Spore Spawn miniboss theme, but lacks the nightmarish feel the original melody has. I suspect that's just an original add-on to Brinstar, not the Spore Spawn theme. It's not as bad as Spoon says, but it needs more work. The reverb isn't good, and the melody floats somewhere in between what works and what doesn't. Better feedback next version.

Don't worry about mixing drums to get them the ultimate punch, focus on taking the theme and interpreting it in some cool way. You sound like remixer material tho, imho. Focus on making this interesting to listen to, and then worry about the details of mixing and effects. Much later. See if you can pull something else from the source to vary it more. Write it so it would be enjoyable even if it was played on sine wave only. Practice, experiment, and see what happens. This is, as Skryp says, "pretty beginner sounding", but it's not bad. Play around with your sequencer and samples, and see what you can come up with. And don't forget to come back and impress us with how far you've come.

I like the sounds you've used, not the lead, but the others. The sound effects, tho, thecount-down and applause is, imo, lame, so if you have no problem losing it, lose it. It just makes the track feel less serious, it's distracting, and... lame. I think the melody of the bass at the end would easily lend itself to a fast trance section, long fade from bassmelody to some more synthetic sound playing the same melody. That would really take the remix to where it should be, at least judging from its name. You established a trance sound at the beginning of the remix, go back to that, and give us a really cool trance section, and then end the remix. I'm too lazy to look up the source, so someone else is gonna have to comment on how well interpreted this is.

MIDI for reference. There's a more in the source track that you could build on. Reduce the number of quaks in the intro, save them for those special moments in the remix (like in the breaks in the middle). Don't over-use them. They're hilarious, but overused, they become annoying. Kind'a the same with the audience, some tracks make it work, some don't. Dunno which kind of track this is. Dunno how OCR will respond to the Donald Duck sample, there might be some copyright issues. I can't say. It's great, but ask one of the judges if it's okay to use. It's repetitive, but it's trance, so big surprise there. You could vary it more, and incorporate more source into it. I've got no mixing issues with it, but I'm currently too tired to listen to it with headphones and all. Besides, mixing isn't my thing anyway, so you'd be best getting help from someone else. But it's a cool track (no pun intended), even tho it falls into the typical OCR niche for ice world trance remixes. The name is very suitable too.

There's one thing you need to address. The piano melody contains a note that plays before the beat. That's a problem when it's just a solo piano melody and an off-beat bass. Not until the bass drum starts playing regularly is the rhythm of the track really established. Before that, it's a big mess of cluttered notes. That's how it seems at first listen. I listened to it at work, and at the time, first listen, it was confusing. At home, second listen, I found myself expecting the pre-beat melody and off-beat bass, so it wasn't as much of a problem then. That, I guess is my biggest problem with this remix. Adding a bass drum or a decaying pad, something on the beat would make it easier to listen to. Towards the end, you fade to just piano. The trance instruments need a better ending than that. Also, the sudden re-appearance of the piano echo feels a bit weird, you should fade in to the echo more slowly. If the piano sample you're using only has a single articulation (or if you're just using one) just play it on both effected an non-effected tracks, and fade between them. If you can, automate the echo dry-wet mix, which should sound better. I don't want to write a long arduous-to-read post, so I'll stop here. I'll comment on interpretation and the rest later.

Congrats, man! Hooray! ...and whatnot.

As it's a pretty soft piece, you should probably start it off even softer, add like ten or twenty seconds of intro to set tone and pace, before going into what you've got already. What I think could be a problem later is that it'll easily get repetitive if you stick to the rhythm you've got, so however you move on from what you've got, which ain't bad, use some other rhythm, see if you can make another soundscape from the instruments you already have. Here's some things I could imagine appearing in this: - acoustic guitar solo accompanied by acoustic guitar chords - more electric piano action - twice the snare, twice the apparent pace - move into dark reggae - a countermelody I hope this helps. Good luck!

This is beautiful. What bothers me is the shehnai or whatever it is, it's pretty rude, really. I like its sound, but it feels too rude for the first part, something softer might work better there. The slow attack of some strings also bothers me a bit, I dunno if that's from necessity, samples, or if it just happened, but I'd give them some more attack. Unless it doesn't sound better. Second section feels a bit cheesy with the screams, but here the shehnai fits in better. Third section is just pretty, tho the interlude with more screams sounds ridiculous. This is a beautiful piece. It's got some of the sensibilities of Destiny's works, and some that must be your own. I don't see why the judges would reject this. btw, on the second listen, the shehnai doesn't bother me as much anymore. No wait, when it repeats, it does. As for the name, Frozen Stars is a beautiful name. Any suggestions I could come up with would tie those two together into "tear" and use that somehow. Good luck figuring something out.

Beethoven, 1814. Just sayin'.

Alex, it's more in-depth, and after I knew what the source was. Stop posting redundant posts. Yup, way more Haddaway. lol 1:00 section feel weak after the fill, it kind'a kills the intensity. Use some big crash and raise the bass, do something to keep the intensity. Tranbsition to 1:29 is also a weak one, tho that's more because the instrumentation/pitch changes so much. You do succeed in making this your own, but... You know already. Gotta be at least 50% source. Sometimes the judges break it up in what's from source and what's original (even if it's derived from source), and if more than half the song can't be traced to source, it's a NO. AFAIK. I dunno, I'm now hearing sections that I can trace to source, but it's still pretty obscure. I finally hear the source in the lead, I think it's the speed that makes it tough to recognize. Try adding an instrument that plays something from source at normal/faster speed, see if you can fit that in on top of what you've got. See if that works. Maybe it's just be, I can be source-deaf. Even so, I rarely have a problem recognizing source in approved ocremixes, those I know. I'll be back, and have another listen to source and compare more in depth.

Alex, you don't have to comment on everything. Remember how DarkeSword got upset with you on his wip here some time ago? Remember why? Dyne, I should probably mention, depending on what key you're in, the "no #" solution isn't necessarily applicable, unless you transpose everything to fit it. Well, except drums, but they sound like a loop. But save your file, then move notes up or down and see if it fits better with the rest of the music.

Not bad, but it's a mess of notes and instruments. I think I told you over IM. Your submitted version must be so much better in terms of instrumental cohesiveness (I know the problem), and production, or else you're bound to get a big giant NO. Patience, man, patience. You know I've worked on Swordsman and the new Ticking Clock for much longer than you've worked on this, and I still haven't submitted either. Don't you like our feedback? Huh?

WIP#4: I hear how this _could_ turn out cool, but now it's a cacophony of simple waveforms and obnoxious drums. You change key when the song starts, yet the bass plays in another key. Basic music theory (according to Rozovian): start with the white keys on the piano, don't touch the black ones. In terms of sequencing, avoid everything that ends with #. (Except with sequenced drums.) Practically, start both the lead and the bass from the same note the intro starts. Sound better? Transpose (move up/down) everything to fit this "key". Sound better? Honestly, this ain't good, man. A step in the wrong direction, musically, but it's a learning process, so don't get your hopes down. I'm still looking forward to your 10th wip here.

Focus on gameplay, worry about music when the game works. Every once in a while, there's someone coming by stating the awesomeness of their game project, and after a few weeks, the project is dead. Good thing you're not asking anyone to compose original music for your game, which is a surefire way to disappoint a musician unless you've got a working demo and are gonna complete the game. Summary: FiremanJoe is right.

AFAIK, "a couple ms of latency" shouldn't be much of a problem unless you're mixing dry and wet signal (in which case you've got loads of problems, so don't).

Okay, I recognize the theme early on. Good. To be frank, it's boring, up until 0:30 or so, after which it quickly loses momentum again. Sorry man, more speed, more intensity, more something. Use a louder and more rude lead. Really. Break at 1:20 is pretty, don't toss the drums back in, when exposed like that they sound really newb. I like the bass, pads, and the crystal-like keys you used here. They're pretty. The bg lead (ironically) works nicely here. Going out of the break, you screw it up tho. Drums seem to lose the rhythm completely, and we're transported into an instrumental mess. I needn't tell you you should come up with a better ending, this is kind'a lame. Sorry Vid if I'm being harsh. This is what I hear, this is what I think, and your job is to rework this to convince the majority of the listeners (and the judges) otherwise. This would get rejected pretty quickly if it went to the panel, it's just not refined enough yet. Good thing is, you know this stuff well enough to start improving it. *ahem* That's from the first listen-through, here's my thoughts for the second: Drums are weak. I recall the break revealing the kick is an electronica drum and not a rock one, which this one needs. You still need the lead to be much louder and more prominent in all ways. 0:30-0:45 This works if it's a shorter section or faster song, or done with better samples. More crashes and stuff if you want this part to rock. Transition to break is nice tho. Break is a little cluttered while the lead keeps playing. Kill it earlier, you might even shorten the first section of the break. When the tambourine comes in, it's pretty good. It sounds kind'a stiff, but it's better than other parts. I like the bass that follow, too. Up until 2:17, where I notice the lead is just a background thingy and doesnt rise, or make the whole piece rise as much as it could. Use louder hihats and other cymbals to signify speed in the drum arranging, not the snare over and over. It sounds ridiculous to drummers, and even to an amateur such as myself. And fade-out. Lame! Dude, this isn't bad, but it's not good. Yet. I like how you've changed the tone and stuff completely compared to source, that's good. Now, get the rest of the piece as good. Lemme give you a checklist: -Louder leads -Better kick samples -Lose loads of snare hits -Learn to use hihats, crashes, rides, and stuff -Raise the tempo one or two bpm, it's not much, but I think it would improve it -Compress and EQ the drums appropriately So, that's my thoughts on it. Once again, sorry if I'm being harsh, jsut fix what you agree with and don't make me repeat myself when you update this. With fixes, this could be real impressive. Good luck, and nice work so far!

It's alive, IT'S ALIIVE!! T'was comatose, but is alive, learning to walk again. We're a bit low on remixers and a few tracks are in flux, but as I see it, there's loads of hope.

I think we all go through different periods in our creative lives. Sometimes we need something new, sometimes we need to go back to our roots, sometimes we just need a goal to work for, and sometimes we just need to make music to see what it becomes. I found that I'm currently in the state where I have loads to gain by learning how to produce music that'll get accepted on ocr. You're probably in a different state. I agree with the advice given, read it all and try it out. Good luck!

Something I personally encourage you to do, as a fan more than as an aspiring remixer, is to find underappreciated games, composers, remixers, and most importantly, remixes, and gather an album of those. Rather than going with everyone favourite game, composer, and remixers, find a remix that nobody has listened to for years, from a game nobody has heard of for just about as long. That is a project deserving attention on ocr. Dunno if a "most overlooked" album is much more preferable than a "best of" album, but I do feel it's more useful.