Rozovian

Still suffering many of the same problems. I recommend picking an easier source to practice on, or writing an arrangement that doesn't use the parts that you have trouble getting right. Aside from just learning to tell when notes clash, experiment with different notes, chords, and scales on a piano track (using a piano sound makes it easier to tell). See what notes go together, what notes don't. Here's an excerpt from my in-rogress music guide for newbs, from the section about chords and scales: (terminology: interval = distance between different pitches/keys) Learn scales. Stick to scales. Write stuff, listen to stuff, learn stuff, make good music.

Of course you need master tweaking, but most of the punch should come from sound design and mixing, tweaking the individual tracks, not from slapping a compressor over the whole thing. Aggressive styles need volume, not compression, but in order for your tracks to be of the same volume as others in these styles, you need to use a lot of compression. Just gotta use it right. I don't do enough aggressive tracks to give you as good pointers on this as some of the others, but at least I can explain compressors for you. Threshold is at what level the compressor reacts, attack is how quickly it reacts when the track reaches the threshold level, ratio is how aggressively it compresses, and gain is just a tool to adjust the input volume. I tend to use fairly slow attack times, threshold set so it doesn't catch every little noise in the drum track but enough to compress every drum or snare hit, ratio set fairly high. I've been experimenting with using an Overdrive boosting the drums by 2-6dB, tho I'm sure that won't work for all sounds and styles.

So, last time... And now... Improved synth design, nice use of panning (doesn't have to be hardpanned tho), mechanical melody entering at 0:42 (needs velocity/timing edits, or a less prominent attack timbre), second bass key might be clashing (it's weird, not sure if it's clashing, you should be able to find a more fitting key for it imo), blocky arrangement without much transitioning into or out of parts, terrible fake guitar sound, comping synth seems to be clashing at times - check what notes it plays... ...strings have a slow attack and the sound doesn't seem to mesh with the synths anyway, piano and guitar is way too loud, way too loud stuff in this second half of the track overall, nice slowdown, guitar needs to be more humanized. 4:48 is really nice (aside from the loud guitar). Some observations. You seem to be having trouble finding not just the right sound but also the right idea for this track, this seems like a random experimentation with the source... which is good practice, just not very song-like. Find the ideas you wanna use, and arrange the whole thing around those. It's an improvement over the previous version I heard, but you've still got stuff to learn.

Sub it. If it doesn't pass, you'll at least get judge feedback on it. Man the source is hard to get into. So, no comment on that, but I do hear some similar-ish parts. Or maybe I'm just being source-deaf today. The trumpet gets old fast, making the second half of the track seem like a repeat of the first despite the obviously modified melodies. The guitar thing needs humanization, it sounds like the same sample used over and over again. Sampled is never as organic as a real guitarist would make it, but it's like you didn't even try to get some dynamics into it. It's a cool track. Fix it up , and when you're done tinkering with it, sub it.

Edit velocities and note lengths. it's especially noticeable in the guitar and piano melodies and the sustained strings. Smoother attacks and more dynamics in the strings should help there, while the melodies need velocity edits and a more human timing (note: randomization isn't humanization). It helps to make softer notes not just more quiet but also a bit more muffled (velocity-sensitive filter in the sampler, if available) than the louder ones. Overall, having louder and softer parts (as in the 1:26 transition) makes a track much more interesting and human-sounding. That's more of an arrangement thing than a typical humanization thing, but it's worth considering. Hope this helps.

It's a wav. Don't do that (unless sending a full-quality file for mastering or a collab or something). Nice work not commenting on the mix at all, guys, as if 34 megs is a lot these days. Some frequencies in the lead are piercing, you should eq them down. Mixing is pretty bad, everything is waaay too loud, _especially_ the lead. Sounds design is cool. Drums have some nice writing (sound design is too raw tho), nice fills tho pretty mechanical overall, especially in the kick/snare rolls. Arrangement is basically just a genre adaptation that follows the same progression as the source. Some nice additions, but it's basically a cutnpaste midi rip. You were off to a good start with the chord in the intro, but at 0:44 it's in midi rip territory. Mostly good sounds, nice start to the arrangement. Mix it better, and continue with a less conservative take on it and you'll have a pretty good track here.

So the compressor is the magical sound-better-maker-izer that everyone's been looking for? Yes to experimentation, no to thinking stuff sounds better just because it's compressed. All the compressor does it make soft stuff louder, and louder stuff just seems to sound better (EQs have a gain knob that you can adjust to counter this when EQing). Hence the loudness wars.

True, tho that won't really show ppl exactly what's been done in the tracks, you need project files for that... and those tend to be daw-specific. Depends on what the pack is for, to show what can be done or to show how it's done. Depends if we go by the plan in the OP or with Yoozer's imo better plan (which is more work tho).

Cool idea. Would this be something for all DAWs, select DAWs, or just FL? As overrepresented FL is, ppl do use Mixcraft, Live, Reaper, Reason and other software.

In a few more days. Today, maybe the day after tomorrow. Not tomorrow.

I think all sources, including those bonus sources I added to it, are claimed now. I don't see any tracks marked as red, so either I screwed up the tracklist or we've gotten some cool ppl on board. However, I wanna see something done about those black, orange, and cyan tracks. I like the purple and green, and especially blue. More of those plz. By the next deadline, I'll redo the colors scheme to make it really obvious which tracks aren't done. We could be done by summer (and the album could be out as soon* as 2015), guys and gals, keep up the good work. Also, we've got a new artist on board, welcome megrar! Had I not lost the save states I would be hyping an in-progress preview video around now. I'll get back to that later. * ) ocremix' idea of soon, maybe?

Nope, not too late, we're still accepting stuff. Still got tracks listed as available to ppl. PM me or hit me up on aim. Show me what you've got.

Just fyi, we got 4 wavs in last due date. That was pretty cool. Now we're just making sure there aren't any embarrassing littlw flaws in them before calling them done.

Use VBR. Also, most tracks don't suffer much ill effect being downsampled to 160 kbps or so.

I think moving towards smaller albums is a good thing tho. The big ones take time and liek never get liek finished and stuff. On the other hand, the collab/recruit forum is becoming a hotbed for projects and getting in the way of the collabs. ppl wanna do albums because single mixes don't get enough attention. I think the project explosion is a result of how slow ocr can be. Sub, wait, judge, wait, NO... or YES, wait, post. ppl want their music out there faster than ocr seems capable of posting remixes, and don't necessarily know of any other way to get their remixes out there. In a way, ocr has become to big and popular for its own good. Also, it's a little frustrating to have taken over a project trying to see it thru to completion while there's a thousand startups rushing past and stealing all remixers. That's how I feel, and that's while sd3 is actually doing quite well, interest/progress-wise. Dragon Warrior, anyone? But you can't really stop projects. They're a great way to get into remixing and the community, they provide you with feedback a lot faster than subbing to ocr, they're often led by ppl who know how to make ocr-level stuff, they're a way to get your music out there and promoted (well, along with the rest of the album). Why would anyone make non-album remixes that barely get heard? Despite my obstinate preference for only using aim for feedback, my remixing guide is doing fairly well on the recruit/collab forum, I've gotten a lot of good feedback from ppl who've contacted me about it. The r/c board is functional, but it's a bit of a mess. Kind'a like this post.

Dark. Aside from the hihat I can't hear much in the highs, everything seems... well, dark. There's a compression problem that gets pretty noticeable towards the end, probably too loud lows in the bass drum or lows from tracks that don't need lows (easy solution: eq it down/away). Sounds a bit empty overall, but that's not necessarily a bad thing for a track like this. Besides, it could just be the simple synths screwing with my ears. Not sure using simple synths as pads is a smart move, it doesn't sound right to me, but can't suggest a solution without risking you compromising your idea for the track's sound. Arrangement, if a little repetitive, is pretty interesting, with lots of stuff changing. The lead ostinato might be a bit too prominent, at least for my tastes. Overall, nice work. btw, you've got 7 updates to the track. The more you work on your ears, the less you have to depend on other ppl's ears. If there's something that bothers you with the track, it'll probably bother you more if you leave it there. Compare this to some well-mixed tracks and check if something stands out.

Talk to djp about putting the vids on ocr's front page and Larry about promoting them on the ocr channel. Can't say they'll go for it, but it's worth asking. Promotion means views, and views are usually appreciated.

I got provoked. Length happened.

New ppl with some skill in something (hello and welcome and stuff ), do provide a link to your gallery or something so we can see your work. There's lots of projects on ocr, so if you wanna help out, check them out and see if any of them needs your skills. Not everyone reads the newbie intro thread. If you wanna take part in what we do here, don't just wait, go take part.

The OverClocked Plaid Muffins. Awesome. 'nuf said.

Loom, by LucasArts, adventure game, uses music from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky, which wasn't originally written for the game... or so I assume, it was written in 1876.

I don't see why not, assuming the source and remix meet the criterion and standards, of course. It'd provide djp with an excuse to share his views in these games and the controversy about them in a writeup. And it'll attract attention. The kind of attention depends on his views, of course. I mean, I can air my appreciation for various medieval statues without saying we should base any dress codes on them.

Raw synth design, stiff sequencing, not the most cohesive sound choices, ugly guitar, volume problems, an overall raw sound. Gets interesting half way through, tho still suffers some of the same problems. Intro, some bits in the middle, and outro - those weren't bad. Those drums really don't fit with the other sounds, and their entrance is pretty abrupt. The track until then seemed like it was a slowly developing track with more promise. I'm a little disappointed by how good that was. Or more like how good it didn't keep being. So, work on your sound design and mixing, do more good transitions and developments. You've got good ideas and I think you've got good ears too, just gotta learn how to use them. Also, good choice of source. Come to think of it, there's elements of the source that sounds like a track from a game I've been wanting to mix but that isn't a valid source for ocr.

The direction and concept is great, writing starts off great but runs into a typical problem with original content vs conservative source stuff. You've basically got an original track with the source inserted on top of it rather that really built into the whole track. Yes, I hear the chords of the source, but I'm not sure they're distinctive enough for the judges to count them as source. The arrangement needs some restructuring. You've basically got chords, full source, original stuff, repeat. More dynamics and more variations on the source would improve it a lot. The sound design sounds great... on laptop speakers, at least. Can't listen close enough to make any definitive calls on it, but the sound design is smart, interesting, and... well, good. Doesn't sound mixed all that well tho. Overall, production does need some work, not just mixing but some instrument entrances are kind'a stiff, and there's stuff to be done to humanize some of the instruments. This is definitely a concept worth working on, and with lots of stuff here that you could easily work into a more complete arrangement, so keep working on it. btw, avoid flooding the feedback forum with your threads, pick one or two tracks you want feedback on, post those. It helps us see what tracks you're most committed to, too.