Rozovian

Unnecessary low frequencies tend to add up and push the whole mix without really adding anything musically. Everything except bass and bass drum, possible also pad and any other low instruments, should be high-passed to get rid of these lows. Then, depending on the style, instruments can be side-chained to go soft whenever the bass drum hits - which keeps the max level lower. These two tricks get you a fair amount of level. You can also automate track levels, eg making the powerful intro pad a lot softer when the drums kick in, or pushing that first lead into the background when the second ones comes in. Then there's parallel compression and a slew of other tricks that you can do, depending on the track you're working with. All of this is done before the track hits the output channel, where I usually only have limiter while mixing, and add a light multiband compressor and possibly some eq when the track is getting close to finished. As for sharpness, this is just a case of having more higher frequencies. You can reduce the lows of your bass and raise its level instead. That makes it brighter. EQing individual sounds to be a bit brighter does a lot, but you also need to separate tracks from each other using EQ. That makes the whole mix more clear. Background-foreground separation also does a lot, and it all builds on the plain old levels mixing. Another trick is to use multiband compression on a single instrument, to make sure its lower frequencies stay about the same while raising the higher ones. It's not something I usually do, but it's a good technique to know to use when you need it. Usually, I add a touch of overdrive or other distortion to instruments that are too dark, this raises their highs a bit. This sounds terrible when you overdo it, so... don't overdo it. I talk about this stuff in my remixing guide, in my sig.

Most of Logic's built-in stuff, at least in LE8 which I still use, has some obvious velocity layer differences, and while that works well for sequenced piano - easier to hear the difference - it's far from ideal for actual recordings. There's an edit feature somewhere in the EXS24 interface that lets you screw with the samples themselves - which at least gives you an overview of the samples used. Find the piano with the most velocity layers, it should be the best... but I can't say if it's any good, I barely use Logic's pianos... and when I do, it's because I just need a quickly loading sketchpad-suited sound. You can do a search of the judges' decisions, for "piano" and... idunno, "no"? It'll limit the results to decisions that mention pianos. Once you find the decision, use its name and the artist's name and google the two. See if it's been on dod or youtube or something.

Convincing? That is so not the right word, but I agree that the supposedly real instrumentation aren't up to par, not when assuming they're supposed to sound real at least. This whole track sounds very 90's computer game music. It's not an invalid style choice, and it's not like the original isn't like that, but when you're asking for a mod review you're asking if it'd get on ocr. The answer is no. Not because the sound design is very 90's vgm, but because the production also is. I don't mind the fake guitars, the fairly simple synths and percussion, but I'd want it mixed to modern standards. This may require some edits to the sound design, eg adding a layer or two to the snare or widening some sounds. EQ and background/foreground separation usually helps, too. The 2:40 chord choice doesn't quite fit (likewise its repeats). On a related note, that piano doesn't sound like it's recorded in an anechoic chamber, but it's still too short. Longer release and/or some delay/reverb might give it a little more tail. Guitar 0:59 is too loud. Actually, it sounds really uneven. Happens not just in that part but elsewhere as well. Some compression to keep its levels under controlled might be a good idea. As for the arrangement, length may be an issue, as might conservativeness. Repetition is the actual problem tho, not length. As for conservativeness, I'm not gonna learn the source and evaluate the remix soon enough for this review, so... idunno, might be too conservative, or just fine. PRODUCTION - Low-quality samples - Unrealistic sequencing - not fooling anyone, go for fake or humanize - Drums have no energy - they don't have to be in your face, but they do need a bit more bite than this... except hihat, which is plenty loud as is - Mixing is muddy (eg. too many sounds in the same range) - separate your sounds STRUCTURE - Too repetitive - there's certainly worse out there, but at least the repeating cymbals hint at some fairly short and lazily looped drums, and not developing the groove much kind'a compounds the repetition problem It's a nice groovy thing you've got here, but it's not ready for ocr yet.

Needs more timing edits. Also not mixed well.

Wouldn't it actually be more authentic if done for real? Seriously tho, anybody know a good resource on how loud different instruments get? Aside from electronic instruments, I mean, for reasons that should be obvious.

There's also the fact that we're not competing with what the game publishers themselves primarily sell, namely games. We just do music. Perhaps we're not on their radar. Perhaps they feel we're doing them a favor promoting their games through the music. Fangames sometimes get shut down, but it seems like fanart and fanmusic isn't seen as a threat. A bad fan game getting big could hurt the image of a game publisher/developer, while art and music are more peripheral to that issue. There's also the legal issue. Shutting down unlicensed games is a way of protecting their brand. You can get a license for covers/arrangements and sell them. Licensing services of the kind that exist for music doesn't exist for games. Then there's fanfiction, which is usually left alone, and fanfilms, which sometimes get shut down. It's probably legal maneuvering to make sure they can shut down competing work that uses their characters and world. For films and games. If ppl were publishing fanfiction in book forms in book stores (online and irl), you bet book publishers would take issue with it. tl;dr: We're not competing with the games, so they leave us alone. afaik, they like fanworks. (I'm using the term fanmusic just became it looks right next to fanart and fangames etc...) - When it comes to what you're doing, Schil, I'd be careful about how I put my name on those tracks. It's one thing to pay homage to them in an otherwise original track or to arrange them to the extent ocr requires, it's another to move some things around in a midi. Changing chords and spending 30 minutes on a midi (that somebody else transcribed, btw) is far from what I'd dare put my name on. Still, I have no idea how these tracks end up sounding. Maybe they're substantially arranged. Maybe they sound more "inspired by" than "remixed". Idunno.

As I'm sure you know, a loud piano note will sound brighter and harder than a soft one. When we're talking about dynamics (in terms of arrangement and performance, not mixing), we aren't so much concerned with the levels but rather with whether the instruments sound loud or soft. If you played this on a keyboard, you may have been playing mostly in the loud end of its velocity range. Your DAW may have a tool for stretching the velocity range of your notes, making the softer ones much softer and keeping the loud ones loud. It could also be a lack of velocity sensitivity in the instruments themselves, but I doubt the higher-end stuff you seem to be using would be this stiff if given notes with a good velocity range. When you need to soften a part, go edit the midi. Adjusting the track levels won't change the sound, it'll just sound artificial like that 1:51 levels jump. When you make the notes softer, the instruments respond with softer, less bright sounds. This is a more natural difference between soft and loud than just turning the volume down. There's also a possibility you have some auto-quantizing going on (or that you've quantized it yourself).

No source link, no source feedback. Also, Finished, Finished_v2, Finished_v3? You're becoming me. That can't be good for you. Starts off okay... 6 minutes? Oh boy. Well, that explains the slow intro build-up. 1:18 I hear the compressor working. That's not good. At 2:15, the side-chaining works while the beat is steady, but once you hit a fill where the bass drum relents or changes rhythm, the whole thing falls apart. The sound design is a bit minimal but it works. The track is too long. While 4 minutes went by okay, I'm getting tired of the track and it's not doing anything interesting enough to hold my interest for another two. What comes in around 4:25 now feels like an attempt to keep it interesting for a little longer rather than a natural direction of the track. Hey, a redeeming groove in the last minute. Bitcrushed delay/fade. nice. It's still to long, I would cut some some stuff from the middle of the track to avoid wearing ppl out with it. ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION - No clue. SOURCE LINK! PRODUCTION - Overcompressed (pumping/no dynamics) STRUCTURE - Too repetitive Looks pretty good, I'm only hitting two of the checklist items. Granted, there may be a too conservative/liberal item I couldn't check because I R LAZY and U NO PROVIDE SOURCE LINK. Also, those two checked items... they're pretty big concerns. It's in NO-land atm. Aside from the source, which I'm not commenting on because there was no source link, this could be pushed into YES-land.

Too loud. Sounds like the hihat is especially loud, there's a hiss in them that stands out a bit too much, even on my setup which typically has me mixing the highs too loud. Piano is also probably too loud. Something weird happens at 1:51... and it seems like everything ends up better mixed at that point (except the hihat, see above). Aside from that jump in dynamics, this things sticks to the same eergy level throughout the track, which makes it feel more repetitive than it is. The source is used well here. I only really know it from previous remixes of it, but the lead was easy to pick out just from those. After checking the source I find that you've used other parts of the source well, so source-wise, I'm cool with this. If you take away the genre adaptation you'd have something that might be too conservative. You don't really change much, you just move it around and put it to a different backing. I think it works. There's something vanilla about the sound, but I can't put my finger on what exactly that is. Perhaps you need to separate the instruments more, using both the background-foreground placement and EQ separation. Perhaps. I'm also a bit concerned about the sequencing, it's written well but it seems to lack humanization. The organ obviously can't have velocity-sensitivity, but the bass seems really mechanical, like a robot was playing it. Piano and drums have some amount of mechanical sequencing as well. The piano sound doesn't seem very dynamic, sounds like you were playing with a hammer, a lot of the notes seem to be at a really high velocity. PRODUCTION - Too loud - levels mixing could use some work, which should leave this track a little softer and more dynamic - Unrealistic sequencing - mechanical - Overcompressed (pumping/no dynamics) - needs more dynamics and less arbitrary volume jumps - Mixing is muddy (eg. too many sounds in the same range) - possible issue STRUCTURE - Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough) - dynamics, rhythm and instrumentation - Too repetitive - a consequence of the lack of changes has the recurring parts making the track seem more repetitive - Abrupt ending - could be signaled better, but not a big deal I think it's in NO, RESUB territory, but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around your track. Perhaps another mod could verify and clarify what I haven't.

Late mod review, sorry it took so long. Guitar comes in a little too late, drums are really loud compared to the first guitar and keyboard, not sure about the crash-heavy drum writing in a long like this, gets repetitive while staying on the same chord like this. Also a few guitar timing problems towards the end. OA does this style, so have a look at his tracks. Cool idea, nice sound, but it's stuck on that one same musical idea. With something else to do, playing on a different chord, harmonic variations, whatever, you could easily make this a sweet little ocr-bound track. With a source this short, you'd have to be creative with it, do more than just play it over and over with some melodic changes. It's a really sweet track (and having something like this on the sd3 sleep jingle would be great, wink wink shameless invite). ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION - Too conservative - sticks too close to the source - easily solved with some harmonic variation or something else to break from the repetition, which is a bigger issue PRODUCTION - Too loud - some instruments compared to others PERFORMANCE (live recorded audio/MIDI parts) - Timing not tight enough - occasionally STRUCTURE - Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough) - not a big deal, but worth pointing out - Too repetitive - everything plays over the same loop

First, consider my suggestions in this thread: to screw with Omnisphere's settings. Dunno how FL renders, but as the playback has problems while the render doesn't, it could just be that Omnisphere isn't keeping up when playing live, but can hog processor and memory to provide good renders. If that doesn't help, use a level meter and a waveform monitor at each step of the effects chain. Do it live so you hear the distortion when it's there. If nothing else, you'll have eliminated Omnisphere and the effects as causes for this clipping. It could also be something in FL's playback. iirc the playback can be different from the output. Someone that actually uses FL might know more about that.

Sounds more like you've got the wrong settings for Omnisphere. Go to its System pane and screw with the streaming and memory settings. There's iirc some instructions in the manual about how to find the rights settings for your setup.

What a week irl, too much stuff to deal with. rBrn and Dj Mokram, you're probably waiting for feedback. It's coming.

Music was much better before they invented concert halls. I mean electricity. Or rather, synths. At the very least, no good has come from the mp3 encoding and sharing music on the net. So yeah, no.

I usually just point to FreeAlpha and TAL-Elek7ro II as they're cross-platform with a good interface and a fair amount of options. If you're going into scifi sounds, you may want to use more Absynth (in Komplete) and other more pad-oriented tools, but for most subtractive synthesis, these two should do. You can search KVRAudio for more.

I'm gonna shoot you some sketches tomorrow when I've had some time with my gear. This seems much in line with the kind of stuff I do anyway, and I'm a huge fan of Marty and Michael's work on the Halos.

With the kinds of freebie synths out there, you might not need the synths from Komplete. On the other hand, as Meteo already stated, KONTAKT! If you wanna go professional, you'll need more than just either (or even both) of these products. If you're gonna be a substitute for a real orchestra, EWQL is far from enough. You'd probably need stuff like LASS to get close to real. My recommendation is to get Komplete for versatility and to be able to use high-quality third-party Kontakt libraries.

I've just been amused at your misunderstanding of what mod review is for and ignoring the posts, waiting for the lack of response to get you to read up on it or ask someone. Some people around here clearly don't read those guideline/how-to posts, as you're not the only one to have marked originals for mod review. Why it's available in Originals I have no idea. And no, music that isn't your own doesn't fall under the aforementioned posted-remixer-privilege. Feel free to start a thread about the label and its releases in Community tho, just don't make it spammy with updates every other day (discussion is another thing, of course). I reckon Darke or someone will step in if it gets spammy.

Hm.... http://www.youtube.com/user/fairuzons2 This _might_ be him. Somebody check the video content for stuff he's uploaded/been active in before. I'm just posting this here to give everyone the heads up that there still seems to be a fairuzons around. Somebody verify his identity without talking to him before anyone does anything else. We don't want to harass someone with a coincidentally similar username. And _if_ it's him, it's probably best if someone from staff, like Larry, talk to him. He might have grown up and out of the plagiarism thing and could come clean about the tracks. He might not react well to being antagonized or bullied, so _do not gang up on him_. If it's him and he wants to redeem himself, give him space to do that. Repeat: Do not engage.

I've got a work thing this week that requires me to leave my desktop machine and decent listening gear at home for a couple of days, so you have a few more days to meet the beginning-of-the-month-update due date. I won't be incommunicado, I just don't know in what capacity I'll be around. I'm keeping an eye on my gmail and this thread, it's easy from the phone. PMs and IMs are pretty much out of the question, unless I get wifi or something where I'm staying. Blah blah. Updates before the weekend plz. We're so close. (and fyi, I'm satisfied with my own tracks' progress this month. haven't yet listened to the updates I've gotten so far. or update. I think there's just one. you know who you are.) mak: sure, no problem.

Welcome everyone. False indeed. I read them all the time, and other regulars do pop in from time to time to greet ppl, at least if they have something specific to reply to. In this case correcting you and inviting you to the remix board. (for originals/non-vgm-remixes, there's a second board, tho) Invitation is open to everyone, so if you make music, let's hear it.

As long as you only have GB, you'll be limited in the sounds you can use. No VST. No Kontakt libraries. You can, however, use some soundfont formats (haven't used them in a while, don't remember which), through the built-in DLSMusicDevice, and there must be free AU samplers for loading raw samples like wav and aif. If I were you, I'd grab a few different soundfont formats and find instructions on how to install them so GB can use them. Once you know which formats work, look for all kinds of brass samples for them, and use the ones that fit the tracks the best, whether they say ska, orchestral, or something else.

Just as a general reminder, track notes and bios for every artist. We'll make stuff up for the tracks/ppl we don't have anything else for. It's for the website. Shouldn't be long, unless it's really interesting. Progress checkup in a few days. I wants updates, preferably as wavs. I'm satisfied with my own track's progress this month. Not quite as much with my collab. Time to do something. Also, there are still available tracks. It'd be awesome to have an electric piano lullaby thing based on the Sleeping tune (#65 on the rsn), maybe with a jazz flavor and some weird chord things that jazz musicians love to do. Or maybe a world-music-infused rock take on Strange Medicine. Or why not a funky, scratchy thing based on Black Soup? Just some idea, just do something fun and in keeping with the project direction with the tracks. Come on ppl, so few tracks left, we're almost done. edit: I hate having my posts last on a page. now you all know.

You can digging thought the mixes here, here, and here (of the ones tagged so far) if you wanna jump straight to candidates for "pure genuine metal", or you can just go numerically through the 2284 mixes posted so far (not counting album-only mixes). Have fun.

FYI I'd recommend Battery for electronic stuff, and while it's not quite designed for acoustic kits, it does all right with preset kits that already have the round-robins and multiple mics (where needed). Still, the benefits of a rock-oriented tool are that the preset kits and samples are already geared towards that style, with more round-robins, velocity layers, multi-mic support, and whatever other things you may need. I wouldn't recommend coughing up the dough for just Battery anyway. It's a good part of Komplete, tho. Dunno about Studio Drummer, but if it's Battery for acoustic drums, it might be worth it.