Rozovian

Another voice in favor of Addictive Drums, albeit only from the demo. I've got Superior Drummer, but I prefer the demo of AD because of it's faster loading time, customization options, and easy interface. SD is probably best used by ppl from an actual mixing background who're used to working with real mics and real drums, whereas I find AD much easier to work with because I'm used to thinking of drums samples from a sampling POV where I can adjust pitch and other things in the samples themselves. I've heard good things about SSD, tho. Once my personal economy starts picking up I might be getting me some new drum stuff, and AD and SSD are the two I'm looking at.

That's fine. Not every mix needs to (or even should) be on ocr. For ocr tho, you'd need an arrangement that differs and shows some personality. Anyway, what I meant with writing, which I guess I should have made a little more clear, isn't just putting letters in order. Writing music is like using a pen to write (you know, like back when ppl used paper ). Not only do you have to know how to know the language - how to convey the idea, how to spell, how to form sentences and articles - you also need the fine motor control to make the writing intelligible. Writing in a DAW takes both general music skills, a writing skill I take it you have if you do piano skills; it also takes midi-writing skills, which are more about how to get the most out of your instruments. This includes velocity, timing, length, midi cc (like modulation, expression, sustain etc), and more. There's also the matter of making sure your pen works well (sharpening the pencil/refilling ink/whatever). This is analogous to screwing with the instruments and effects, using automation where necessary to make the instrument sound good. I used GB a lot before moving on to Logic. I'm not up to speed on everything the current version does (back then, it had the track instrument and effects in a window rather than a sidebar, and had limited automation), but I've played with the new version from time to time, and the writing tools are, imo, not good. Editing velocity and timing is clunky, so humanizing is a pain... unless I've missed some convenient shortcut or modifier key. In other words, I meant writing, not writing. (ps. remixing guide in my sig, contains both basics and various more advanced things, feel free to read it)

Well, two out of three anyway.

Hard to say what you should fix when we don't know what you're going for. I would focus on making sure there's a performance to the instruments, that they feel played by ppl and not just written (or played by bored ppl ). It's also pretty short, close to the original, and doesn't seem to have much of an idea of where it's going. What do you wanna do with it? Where do you want it to go? There's also that weird wind noise in the woodwind/bottle. It bothers me. Some amount of noise can be a good thing, but this seems excessive.

Too loud, too simple, too similar (for ocr at least), too many key clashes. You have a lot to learn, but it sounds like you've got decent tools to make some good stuff. Just needs more practice.

Get the low end under control, it's messing everything up. Hipass, side-chain, whatever it takes. You need it. While you're at it, you'll get more energy out of the track by using more mids, you've got loud lows and loud hihat, and fairly empty mids, at least in the first minutes. Kickass groove, and it has time sig changes? I like it. Might be a bit long and gets repetitive in the second half. Cool stuff tho.

I never understood the appeal of this source, so take my source-related crits with a grain of salt. While there's a lot of cool mixes of it out there, most seem to be a redo of the original with guitar and all that. This at least doesn't jump straight to the guitar, so I got my hopes up a bit. But then... This does differ plenty from so many mixes that build too close to the original, this deviation imo is only a good thing. Nice groove. The melody gets buried, tho. Think through your levels mixing some more. Nice break, tho it exposes the stiff sequencing and rigid samples. Humanize where necessary. More groove. Might be a bit long, this remix, some changes to the chordal structure and resulting changes to melody might provide some much-needed variation. Nice key change. Yeah, it's a bit too long. Winding down around 4:10. There we have some key and chord changes. And I felt the groove, so you're doing something right.

I saw it said "stick cover" and thought it'd have a different sound. One involving beating sticks together. While that would have been cool, this is pretty spectacular.

We don't usually get mixtapes, but this is the right place for it... it has vgm in it.

Feel free to use any of my mixes, where appropriate. I have most, if not all the original plugins and samples for them, so making them loop or touching up sounds design and mixing shouldn't be a problem if you want improved versions. If so, or if you're interested in my unfinished mixes from the characters' games, get in touch. btw, every character and their associated game worlds, designs, melodies, all that stuff is IP and under copyright. Every remix here can be pulled by the original songs' rightsholders. Just because we've made a new arrangement and have a new performance and new stuff in them doesn't give us unlimited rights to them. Just wanna clear that up, even tho you seem to just refer to the original music assets when you said "copy-written IP".

Source is obviously there. This feels mostly like an elaborate midi rip, with so much source verbatim. It's more like source+strings rather than the usual source+drums. Idon't think it's different enough for ocr. Could have more dynamics in the strings. Piano is really bright, especially when compared to the xylophone combo. At other times the strings try to dominate when it's clear that you already have a different lead. Then there's the late lead layers (2:37) that seem excessively loud and bright - which makes sense, they need to stand out against the strings... Why are the strings so freaking loud? Instrument placing could be given some more thought; you have some sweet sound choices here but they kind'a seem like they've got some random reverbs and stuff on them, not a deliberate placement (I'm talking depth/distance here, not pan, altho that can also be used). So yeah, sounds are ok but the mixing seems to have been used mostly just to make things loud, not to actually give instruments their own place in the mix. Read up on mixing techniques, separating tracks, and experiment with not having every track so loud. Drums could be cleaned up, they seem like a raw preset kit with some eq on it, nothing more. You can copy the entire track and just remove notes from the copy and original - this practically gives you multiple outs on the drums, so you can process them separately. It doesn't feel humanized much, the notes seem to stay at the same velocity and all seem quantized. You'd need to make them more human to have a shot at getting on ocr. ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION - Too conservative - sticks too close to the source PRODUCTION - Too loud - possibly; the strings certainly are - Unrealistic sequencing - needs to be more dynamic and human - Overcompressed (pumping/no dynamics) - can't say for sure because I don't have an mp3, but the loud parts may well be pushing it - Mixing is muddy (eg. too many sounds in the same range) - some instruments get buried under others, the strings are at fault again STRUCTURE - Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough) - dem strings, primarily So no, not ocr-suited stuff yet. Clearly you've got ears for this, the sound design is pretty cool with good instrument choices and some nice layers. Now you gotta get your mixing and writing skills on par with that. Shouldn't be hard for you.

Andy, dude. No need to yell. I think he got the point. Good morning, welcome to ocr. Yeah, this track is newby. It's difficult to give opinions on the track because you're still so new at this. It's like trying to critique a child's ice skating, the best I can say is: practice. I don't think you should worry so much about specifics, just get used to cubase and how to think in music. Here's some thoughts on what you can do to improve: Go to vgmusic.com and download your favorite old game songs, import into cubase, put your own instruments on it and see how it sounds. Study it. It's far from what ocremix does, but it's great practice when you're new to remixing. This will show you how a song can look like from the inside, and when you work on your instruments you'll probably learn mixing. _Write_ a simple beat in cubase and loop it, play or write melodies and chords that fit that rhythm. You could also try writing the melodies from simple songs into cubase (many NES and SNES game tracks, zelda ocarina songs, children's songs...). This will teach you how songs are written. Listen to lots of different music, and think about how the parts go together, how the drum rhythms and the other instruments fit together, how loud the instruments are, etc.. This will teach you both composition and mixing. Kristina already linked to the guide I wrote. Read it while practicing. It will teach you a little bit of everything... but it's only text, and you won't learn much if you don't also practice and listen. First you learn to walk. Then you learn to run. It usually takes a few years before ppl are on ocr's quality level. Practice makes pancakes (the more, the better). First they start out terrible, but the more you make, the better they (and you) get.

Got it, I'll listen later, probably today. Progress. edit: you're in.

It's a tricky source. Not to work with, but difficult to do something different with without losing what made the original so cool. I've tried. Apparently, I don't have a version online. Yet.

Remember that mod review are for tracks to be submitted? Would you submit this? ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION - Too conservative - sticks too close to the source PRODUCTION - Too loud - the breathy flute lead is - Low-quality samples - nah, but they're raw and exposed - Mixing is muddy (eg. too many sounds in the same range) - it's too minimalistic for this to be a problem... which in itself is a problem PERFORMANCE (live recorded audio/MIDI parts) - Timing not tight enough STRUCTURE - Lacks coherence overall (no "flow") - Not enough changes in sounds (eg. static texture, not dynamic enough) - Too repetitive Easy no. Sorry wolfie. Practice and study more.

A reminder: - sign the consent form if you haven't already - write a few lines about your mix, the source, the game, whatever - get us your artist bio, preferably no too long - you rock - keiiii, you too: bio, notes on the big pics - we want your wavs - sub your tracks to ocr Also, if you're interested in a track, start working on it, let us know in this thread, send me something so I know you're not heading in the wrong direction... we've only got a handful of tracks left before this behemoth is done. - Is anyone waiting for feedback? I feel like I'm stretched out over a whole lot of different mediums and means of communication, and my attempts to consolidate contact to my email seem to have only added to the confusion. In other words. I'm an organizational mess. Who needs something from me at this point?

I'm still interested, and still busy with sd3, tho with just 13 tracks left to finish, we're looking pretty good... I might have some time to join this, soon. Just saying you've got reinforcements on the way.

What pretentious poser would say something like that? I don't like how I run out of ideas half way through a track. I've started thousands of tracks, finished very few. Usually because whatever I started was a single idea, and I couldn't come up with some compatible ones to continue the track with when i could just as well make a new track for my new ideas... the ones that only add to the single-idea wip archive. I should learn to do more with chords. Stacking random notes from a scale to form some nice chord is easy. Breaking scales... not easy. And not taking my own advice. I also hate how I often don't not... do... that. My exact words were "everyone is a work in progress".

The problem with the arrangement is the verbatim melody, backing rhythms, and overall progression - which is too conservative. Keeping any or all of these is a legitimate arrangement choice, but keeping all three easily makes it too conservative for ocr. I did it again. Good sounds sounding terrible != bad sounds. If you're confident that the sounds are good, you can focus on the mixing instead. If any of my crits about the sounds makes sense, do check it out, eg check that the bass isn't tuned wrong or that some pitch bend or something screws with it. A tuner plugin is pretty useful for this. If you didn't actually do any mixing, the sound problems make sense. Use EQ (parametric or graphic) to separate tracks from each other by designating a part of the frequency range as belonging to the lead and carving a few dB from that range in the other tracks. LIkewise for the other tracks, so each instrument has its own space in the frequency range. Don't pick these ranges arbitrarily, see/listen for where each instrument sounds the best. Use reverb to push things further into the background. If you need leads and other foreground instruments to have reverb, give them a longer pre-delay or use a delay effect and a little bit of reverb. Not every instrument can sit on the front of the stage, and not every song should be played in a big empty echo-y warehouse. A rule of thumb for reverb - if you notice it, it's a little too much. Not true in all situations, but good to keep in mind when you're starting out with this stuff. Go into the instruments themselves to adjust some of the settings of the sound. I use an Addictive Drums demo from time to time, it's got a lot of options for shaping the sound. Whatever you need to change about a track, start with the instrument and the midi data. I this case, you have too long notes, either because of reverb or because of something in the samples. Remove the reverb, see if they're still too long. If so, shorten them in the instrument. Still, track levels is the most important part of mixing. It's redundant to use an effect to change track levels when there's a convenient fader for that. Start with a couple of important instruments, mute everything else. Balance those two instruments. Bring in a third, balance it to the two. Bring in another one, etc.. This is how I did it back when I was learning mixing. It's faster to just listen and "know" what to do, but that takes practice. Go read everything you can on mixing, whether it's how to make electric guitars fit in, how to mix backing vocals into a track, what reverbs to use for what genres, whatever. Each thing you learn helps you build a better understanding of mixing as a process and an art, even if you don't actually use those specific things. I've had lots of use of my attempts to learn synthesis, mostly when I mix, especially when I eq. Knowing how to create sound means I know what sound is and can better work with it. Learn stuff. Use stuff. Make stuff. And listen to everything. Find music that's well mixed, and figure out how your tracks differ. Learn to spot flaws in ppl's music, it'll help you spot flaws in your own. Blah blah blah, this got long. I hope it helps.

Huge answer. Note that just because they don't limit the demo doesn't mean you shouldn't pay for it. Anyway, that, like most DAWs, is a fairly basic set of tools. If you want more advanced stuff, you buy more tools - aka plugins. You can also read the guide here, or any of the other getting started-type guides on the site. Welcome to ocr.

Argh, I should re-read my posts twice before re-checking that they're ok before posting. You've got a really short-attack, short-release, full-sustain simple waveform playing while you also have some less simple synthesis going on with those bells, plus their effects. There's a bit of a disparity between them, which bothers me. I'd much rather have a slightly longer release, perhaps longer attack and lower sustain on the simpler instrument, probably some delay or reverb as well to make it fit better with the bells. TL;DR: short-adsr waveforms *vs. delayed bells Then there's some scale clashes. Clashes and/or awkward transitions to a different scale. No you don't have to stick to a single scale for the whole track. Yes, the scales kind'a have to work together if you're using more than one at any point. Then there's the disparity between bass-heavy drums and the established delicate soundscape. Scales, sounds, drums. There's disparities. It's not like you can't juxtapose things, it's just that the juxtaposition doesn't sound deliberate imo. ...is what I meant.

This is the stuff that cool ppl like. I'm just posting to show I'm cool.

Not familiar with the sources, but this is a sweet track. Seems more written than played tho, I hope you've improved the whole humanization aspect of your music since.

I'd be careful with some of the resonances on the bells. Beyond that, nothing in the production bothered me. I'm a bit concerned that this is too much of a medley, but I can't say for sure either way. Another mod/judge opinion on this? Nice sound, nice track. It's not gonna kick ppl in the face, and it's not gonna make ppl notice it for a lack of intensity. You're just gonna notice it was in yoru playlist when it ends and you go "oh, that was a nice groove/track that went by". And I like that.

Make up your mind. I mean, first you have trouble deciding on the scale you're using, and even the basic sound (short-adsr waveforms or delayed bells)... and then the heavy drums come in. Dude! Remind me of one of the sweetest tracks I've ever written, the mood and soundscaping are quite similar. In other words, this is a really sweet track once it starts to find itself around 1:09.