Rozovian

Sounds a lot better... up until 0:29, where a waay too fat lead comes in. Dampen it. At 0:54, everything sounds better again, and I like the semi-simple backing synths there, they're siomple, but not too simple. 1:21, a break, finally. 1:27, more break. Nice to rest the ears. When the lead, comes back, without being cut off by the filter (which btw sounds great), at about 1:40, I've gotten tired of that melody. Good thing it changes right thereatfter. I still feel you've overdone the break and the lead melody overstayed its welcome. Spice it up, mix it up, rework it to be different. Please. New melodies work better, but it still feels a bit repetitive, you should try to twist it, like move it up a few notes and make it work in the same key, idunno, something else. 2:16 yougottabekiddingme. Again? Okay so, it's half as fast, but still. Save it for later. The break is good. You didn't fall into the newb trap of making it completely silent either, tho I'd drop the volume of the pad a bit. 2:50 or so, new drums? Some remixes work well with drums changed. This one doesn't. Use the old ones. Or is it just the bass drum with a cutoff? Doesn't sound good tho. Works later on, in the ending section, but I think you went back to the old bass drum there. The orchestra hits don't sound good either, but those could be tweaked. They've got too much attack and volume. Speed change before 3:30, great! The then appearing higher-range backing synth is too simple, fix that. The earmurdering higher-pitch backing melody is terrible. Both instrumentation and melody, there's something clashing, and it hurts my ears. See if you can bring doiwn the earmurderness of it. And you need a better ending. Overall, this is a big step in the right direction, Mordi. A few fixes, and then the butchering and shortening begins. You've got a lot of repetition you either need to cut out or vary more. The remix is currently at a pretty good length, so I suggest you don't add length without removing some first. But that's just me. It does suffer a lot from medley-itis between sections, see if you can bridge them by introducing rhythms or instrumentation earlier, and/or building transitions (preferably by removing repetition). Good luck!

Ah, it's not the ending. Tho that's gonna make it kind'a long. Btw, listening at it through my semi-decent laptop speakers, the brass sounds really metallic. If I were you, which I'm not, I'd lose the brass and end the remix somewhere around ther Regardless, the ending melodies, rhythm, and/or instrumentation should make some kind of appearance earlier so it feels like it belongs in the remix. It currently doesn't feel like that. The brass feels pretentious in an otherwise pretty remix, so you gotta work it in smoother.

Still very quiet. Still not much to say about the arrangement, it's pretty. And QUIET! My meters seem to barely pass 50% volume. Add a limiter and raise the volume a bit, maybe 5dB. It's a bit minimalistic, but it's still beautiful. The different section at the end, coming in a little before 4:00 is really nice, but the instrumentation and/or rhythm should have made an appearance earlier. It feels like another song begins there, so either introduce it earlier (you've got a really minimalist intro where you could add some soft high-range piano) or scrap it. The ending notes feel both fakey and inappropriate. It's a soft song that should fade in and out of existance, not rise to a weak brass finale and then just end, especially not after the cool piano+strings section just before. There's comments for you.

Besides midi, there's SPC-format music. I can't remix this in the genre suggested, but I'll make it easier for anyone who would. Zophar.net has a Shadowrun spc-archive.

The source is kind'a interesting. There's a Secret of Mana remix that has a similar rhythm to it. As for the remix, the first thing that bothers me is the key change at 0:07, not cool. I know it's in source too, but it sound awful. See if you can add an intermediate key there, or just change the first section to fit it. I've had the same problem, the delay carries over into the next section, which makes the notes clash. At 0:50, I've found myself listening more ot the backing synths than the lead. Good place to start mixing from. get that right and the rest should work. I dunno what remix tools you're using, but a cutoff filter automation would work nicely here, take the attention off the backing synth. Sounds like there's a soft square wave synth somewhere too, bring that up if it doesn't become more audible with the backing synths softer. Overall, this is really repetitive, and while the source track is too, that's not an excuse. See if you can vary the soundscape by leaving out the backing synth and using some other part to fill up the background, a soft pad, like the one you've already used to fill the low range. Source content vs original content... Argh! I can't, honestly judge that, the backing piano vs the backing synths are too distracting for that. Plus I should leave something for other ppl to say, too. And you need an ending. I was expecting at least one more note there. But overall, this holds some promise. Mixingwise, each track sounds okay to me. Balancing them with each other, and making it less repetitive comes next. And an ending!

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.