Rozovian

Nothing is easy to get started with. I downloaded goattracker the other day, thought I'd use it as a sketchpad and for a more authentic chip sound whenever needed. I've used trackers before, so this should be easy, right? First glance: argh! If Mixcraft is misbehaving, figure out why before running off to get a different program. If you're serious about music, you'll eventually need a different program, but you should keep in mind that it takes a while to get used to a new one, no matter what you've used before. Sure, some are easier than others, some will have a workflow you're already familiar with, but they all take some time to get used to. Also, the only one I know of that's similar to GB is Mixcraft.

Good headphones/monitors are vital, but unless your soundcard is a piece of crap you shouldn't need any other hardware. You do need your ears, tho. Also, an audio interface isn't the same thing as a sound card.

It'd be where you'd add any other effect. Does LE actually have an amp sim/distortion effect?

w00t! Got teh album in the mail. Several copies. Stevo, is this a mistake or are you just that cool? Also, I listened to the first cd. Quality stuff, can't wait to see what ppl think of it.

Congrats to Flik and that other guy.

Nobody here likes this source. Pick a game with better music. Seriously tho, have a bit of patience. Also, original+drums doesn't give this track the best first impression. Even if it gets better later on it still sounds like a few loops thrown on top of the original, then the gain turned up for max compression effect. Can't tell if your alarm-y lead is clipping or if it's just noisy without looking at it, but it sure sounds too loud. There's a lot of cool stuff in here, but you're limiting yourself by sticking to the original audio, and it leads to quite a disparity between sounds. You'd have more control over the sound and mixing (not to mention the arrangement) if you'd drop the original audio and write it for your synths instead. But that might not be what you're going for. There's some cool creative things done with the source here, but the disparity between the original and your own stuff hurts the track. Go soft like the original or hard like your own stuff, or find some middle ground that works. My semi-sorted thoughts on the track. Hope it helps.

A bit soft, and the strings still sound a touch too dry, at least compared to the rhythm stuff in the intro. Transition to the ending part is a bit weird, but it's a nice, creative take on the melody. Running with the original chords for most of the track and switching radically by the end imo doesn't quite work, a change in the chord progression or key or something would provide some much needed variation to the body of the track. Worth considering, anyway. Keep going.

I thought your name looked familiar. Welcome back. I'm only familiar with the original from VotL, but this sounds like a straight take on it. Cool track, nice pacing, nice sound. The guitar drags it down tho. Come back, do more.

QFT For a first thing, it's pretty cool. Arrangement has some cool original ideas and stuff, but the production is deep in newb territory. Compare this to songs with a similar sound, see what sticks out in a bad way and fix that. Work on your mixing and sound design (bad samples with good processing can go a long way, so you don't need new expensive toys to make this sound better).

Drums sound played hard yet mixed soft and distant, you could try some other samples and/or make the drums a little more prominent in the mix. Violin is a bit soft some of the time. Overall, the mixing could use some fixes, but the arrangement is really cool. Drum issue aside, this is a nice sound design. Nice work.

It starts with an interesting rhythm, but turns into a mess. 0:59-1:12 is pretty good because it's more sparse, but has some harmony issues like the rest of the track. Learn to hear clashing notes and mix things cleaner, and you'll do fine.

Well, I'm back. And tired. Bad news, everyone: Meridian Child, iirc, will be opened up. Hard drive crash issue. Sucks. I'll fix the tracklist and stuff when I've recovered from the past two weeks of fun and not enough sleep/spare time.

It's because it has the word theory in it. Theory means study. Study means boring. Just make stuff, experiment with the writing and see what it gets you, then see if teh internetz has a name for it. I discovered I was screwing with musical modes and time signature and all kinds of stuff before I read anything about any of it. That made reading about it a lot easier when I got around to it. Also, glad you appreciate my guide.

In other words, you want to make music with more nstruments. Well, learn the basics of those instruments and how to record/fake them and how to mix them... All the same stuff every aspiring remixer newb here wants (or at least should want) to learn. Just read all the musicmaking posts and articles you can find. I have one in a link i nmy sig, and there some good ones on ocr already. And then there's the rest of the internet. Try to learn something every day.

Using sounds with a similar sound will produce a richer sound, which works well if you want the phat and complexity, but if you're looking for a thin, pure, clear sound you either use different sounds (thin, rhythmic, warm, clear, noisy etc) and combine them, or you just don't layer and instead find other ways to work with the sound. In any case, layered sounds should usually be processed together, at least at some stage. I would route them both to the same aux/bus and apply compression and eq and wjatever else there. Any edits Id wanna make I can still do on their own channels, but they're still under the same compr and eq. That way I can control the combined sound and keep it from being overpowering or mud up the mix. Ultimately, you gotta figure this stuff out with your own daw and your own ears, figure out what work for the sounds you use and in the styles you do.

The alternative is using 20 solo string patches and humanizing each of them uniquely and hoping there are enough round robins to avoid phase issues. And then their positioning and the room sound is unrealistic so you need convolution reverbs from each individual instrument position. No, you're overthinking it. Realism and quality are two very different things. A great, real performance is a bad room recorded badly and processed wrong will sound terrible no matter the realism. Sampled, decent string ensembles mixed well will sound better. This thread isn't about realism, it's abou making samples sound better, and that's a matter of sound design/processing , mixing and creating a sense of performance, not realism. Btw, iirc synful orchestra does divisi. Haven't tried it, but it looks interesting.

You'll probably have to work with humanizing anything you don't record, and that's easier in the piano roll. For writing, whatever you're used to will be the fastest. Cubase should work just fine. You'll just spend time learning a new daw instead of making music if you switch. Playing with a second daw is useful, but entirely switching and expecting it to work better than the one you know best... Well, it won't. I don't see any symphonic plugins listed. Those, alobg with making ezdrummer sound good for metal, will probably be your biggest problems. Probably.

Use the output knob on either the distortion or the limiter. Do note that limiters are for peaking transients and stuff, not usually to hold down a track level constantly - for which compressors are usually used when you want that sound. Audio/instrument->top to bottom effects->bus->pan, level->out

Yoozers advice on splitting nots 676 and stuff is for ppl writing sheet music for real players, Id say you shouldnt care about those bits, m.

In any case, you've now gotten some feedback on those tracks. I won't be able to do much project- or even internet-related the next two weeks, but I'll still be able to get online on my phone. If you need to reach me, the best way (besides joining me in the Finnish archipelago) is by email, to my gmail address, which you have if you've given me your in the past two years or so. Facebook PMs is another option. Hotmail and ocr PMs aren't as convenient to check from an old iphone, so I probably won't check those as often. And don't expect to see me on AIM, except around the weekend. Maybe. This also means the deadline/due date thingy gets moved. Tracks are now due on June 27th.. If you don't have updates, nearly or completely finished tracks, at least let me know you're alive and around and still on board. tl;dr: Rozo goes island, brings iphone, no other internet. Rozo back, and tracks due - June 27th.

You're getting it as soon as I've had a good listen of it... hopefully today. I have it, it's sitting on my todo-list, taunting me. We're officially at +1 wav when I change your color. Wiesty, you're welcome back any time.

A rule of thumb is to make things balanced. Pan something left, pan something similar right. I tend to use both shakers and hihat in my mixes, and can pan one left, one right without upsetting the balance in the track. If I only have one, I'll add a delay or something to the other channel if I need to pan it. Same with anything in any frequency range, except lows. I can pan a mid-range pad left and a mid-range arpeggio right. One lead slightly left, one slightly right. Bass, kick, and snare tend to be centered, partly because low frequencies are difficult to distinguish the direction they come from so panning is mostly irrelevant, partly because they're usually central elements in the rhythm and makes things sound off-balance if panned, and partly because having the signal from two speakers instead of one means you get more sound out of it without having to have the louder channel louder (can cause clipping or compression issues). Rhythm guitars, some pads, and other instrument that you want a wide sound for, and can't accomplish it using a wide reverb or something, can be doubletracked and hardpanned in opposite directions, tho this only works if the two tracks aren't identical. If they're identical, it's as if you have a mono track that's played in both stereo channels. If they're not identical, their differences will come from different directions, making the sound wide. Some instruments tend to be recorded in stereo. When you sit by a piano, you'll hear the lower notes more from the left and the higher more from the right, because that's how the piano is built. Many virtual pianos mimic this. Other instruments might benefit from a separation like this, if they're solo or at least prominent instruments withou a lot of other stuff going on in the mix. You can use panning to mimic how a stage would look like, but you probably won't get the mix as hard and big. This might work well if you're going for a jazz club sound, but not so much if you're going for a studio rock band. Ultimately, panning is fun but not necessary. If you pan, don't pan too much, and try to balance it out with something in the same frequency range in the other direction.

Summer's here, which means two things: ppl now have more time, and ppl now have less time. I'm gonna be afk for a few weeks fairly soon, so I won't be sitting by the deadline watching the seconds tick by. That doesn't mean I don't want your mixes, just that the wip/wav due date is, in practice, later than advertized. Work on your tracks, send me something so I know you're still with us... and if ypu're not ok with being included in the previews that are still all talk no upload, let me know. Also, sign the consent form, send me a track writeup and a bio, formal or informal. Public preview coming later. It would help if I had more finished tracks. PS. It's summer. I don't sit all day by the computer, so don't expect me to appear on AIM regularly. Email or PMs plz.

That entirely depends on how big the reward is. Imagine a place like the iTunes store; imagine that being used to promote ppl who use Logic legally. Random garage bands and bedroom producers - who are registered Logic customers. Imagine Apple verifying this with Spectrasonics, Native-Instruments, Tonehammer and whoever else before advertising those indie artists. Imagine Apple revoking the Logic license and any right to upgrades for it. Imagine a big indie music portal doing this, maybe CDBaby could have the right to ask for a project file or something to check what tools you use, and check with the developers if you're a customer. What if they have a list of ppl who've verified that they use stuff legally, and extra-promote ppl randomly from that list. Could be done automatically, with a script that just picks someone from the list and goes "Hey, check this guy out" when you visit a new page or refresh your screen or something. Hm, an exercise in imagining.

Indeed, at least until big brother sees all we do online. But what could be done to reduce piracy? Obviously, any software could be cracked and downloaded by almost anyone, but that's why I've also suggested on-site promotions. I imagine having done an official FL demo track makes for some pretty good mixing cred, and any mention of your artist name (if unique enough) means you'll be more visible on search engines. Sure, it's not the same as pouring all the tools you could ever want into your lap, but unlike just having thousands of plugins, visibility can get you jobs. Even if everyone and their grandma would have all the tools in the world, not everyone or their grandma will know how to mix or produce stuff.