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Flexstyle   Members

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Posts posted by Flexstyle

    OCR03056 - *YES* Mega Man 'The Iceman Clubbeth'

    in Judges Decisions

    Posted

    Yeah, the ice cubes are obnoxious with how much they've been used. And yeah, the vocals are perhaps just a *teeny* bit loud in the mix. But dagnabbit, this is a FUN song, and I love the way you've treated the source. Slowing down the melody to create the cocktail vocal line is great. The instrumental track is well-mixed. The vocal delivery, while not flawless, is delivered with confidence and that makes up for a lot of nitpicky stuff.

    Enough talk, let's see this on the front page!

    YES

    What are you career goals?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    if by "you totally can" you mean "you .1% can", then yes. unfortunately that leaves you a 99.9% chance of failing. in this unsure economy i would rather bet on a much more sure thing than an industry that simply has more supply than demand.

    Then again, there's always something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajMpfPYlHi4

    The route I'm taking right now--admittedly, with some significant financial blessings along the way, such as having college paid for

    (and graduating with absolutely ZERO debt!), etc.--is to get good at something that will likely make me a lot of money if I stay in that field, and then also try and get to the point where I'm at a professional level in the music world as well. I work in IT, where I make good money and have a lot of room for growth, have a good, versatile degree, and have enough experience and connections to probably do very well in the technical field.

    That said, I'd run away from all that in a heartbeat if I get some opportunity to work on a record or tour or something, even if it means just making enough to scrape by on. And honestly, while I'm still young and single, I might try something really crazy yet, like selling all my stuff and then travelling for a year. Nobody's counting on me for income, so why not take some chances?

    What are you career goals?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'd love to be able to support myself by doing music in some form or another. Composition for film, TV, and video games is something I love, of course. There's also the aspect that I'm developing right now, which is studio engineering combined with acting as a producer for an album: not just recording and mixing, but also adding my own touches along the way, all while helping each musician give their best performances.

    Basically, whatever it is I end up doing, I'd like it to be both creatively and technically fulfilling, so I'm working towards expanding both my technical and creative skill sets.

    Also I get bored of doing just one thing for a living after about two years, so I might bounce between a whole bunch of things. :-P

    How frequently do you see people from the community around?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    There's a decent contingent of OCR folks here in Arizona (KingTiger, DjjD, Chimpazilla, Emunator, Ergosonic, Zylance, Monobrow, Protricity, KyleJCrb, anyone else I'm forgetting), so I've met almost all the above names. I hang out with KT on a regular basis, and try to meet up with Jake and Wes (Emu) whenever possible.

    I try to meet up with OCR folks in any area I'm travelling through--got to meet with Rexy, WillRock, Fishy, and ProtoDome a few weeks ago in the UK. Will and Fishy even allowed me to stay at their houses for some nights each, which was excellent. :-D

    And of course I look forward to the conventions where I'll be able to meet up with a bunch of people. MAG, Reno GAME Expo, etc.

    OnePlus One phone invite--anyone care?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    So, I'm holding onto a OnePlus One phone invite (if you don't know what it is, go here), but this is the one week where I can't afford to buy it. It's a one-day only thing, so I figured I'd come over here. Anyone on OCR want the invite? I already took to Twitter a bit but everyone's just some random schlub without any better reason than "hey I want one!" for me to share it, haha. Figured I'd come over here for people I actually care about. :-P

    *NO* Portal 2 'Different'

    in Judges Decisions

    Posted · Edited by Flexstyle

    This one is tough to judge, in some ways. It's catchy, energetic, and those sampled robot voices keep everything interesting.

    Here are my main gripes:

    - Mix is a bit muddy. Part of this could be solved easily by simply rolling off the EQ on everything but the kick and bass below about 100-200 hz. This is something you should get in a habit of doing in pretty much everything you do, actually, as it's general best practice.

    I also think that there are some parts where the kick and snare get buried (mostly when the bass synth starts getting really busy), which is a bit of a shame because they're almost all the song really has to carry it, percussion-wise. This is a very simple track, instrumentation-wise, and while that's not a dealbreaker, it does mean you have to make every single part shine properly.

    This brings me on to my second point, which is this:

    - It's really--REALLY--sparse, with very little sonic variation. In an electronic song like this, you're not limited to what a three- or four-piece band can play. You've got an entire computer with as many tracks as you want at your disposal! Don't be afraid to let sounds make cameos, be background instrumentation, and generally fill the soundscape in ways that a regular band could never do. Specifically, like Chimpazilla said in her vote, there are some sections that just don't feel like they've got enough in them.

    Finally, I have one more gripe, although again, it's not necessarily a dealbreaker by itself; your inspiration for the song seems to come entirely from the source itself. That is to say, all the sonic textures you're using are there because they sound like the original source. Don't be afraid to bring some more spice to the mix, rather than relying on the sounds that were already there. Give it some personality of its own!

    Hopefully that's some good material to work with. Looking forward to hearing this back!

    NO (resub!)

    Games that All Children Should Play

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Flexstyle

    Pajama Sam was my favorite game as a wee tot. Cool environments, kid friendly, but still a good game to teach kids about patience and exploration. Plus Jeremy Soule did the OST, so you know the Music's gonna be good.

    So much of this. Anything by Humongous Entertainment--Pajama Sam, Spy Fox, Putt Putt, Fatty Bear, Freddi Fish, etc., are pure gold. Plus, you can get 'em on Steam or the iOS store! I think Steam even has a deal where you buy the Humongous Pack, and even though not all the games are re-released on Steam yet, you'll get them when they do come out. No-brainer for me, at least.

    And I can't tell you how many hours I spent playing HE sports games like Backyard Baseball/Football/Soccer/Basketball when I was a kid, too. So much fun.

    OCR03018 - *YES* Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 'Hero's Rest'

    in Judges Decisions

    Posted

    Reminds me strongly of some of the stuff that's getting put out by some of the more forward-thinking post-EDM people right now, e.g. Porter Robinson.

    Oh jeez...that was such a hipster sentence. I'm sorry.

    Anyways, it's soothing in its own way, even if it's a bit more driving than not. Good production from what I can hear on these headphones, and I dig the way you've kept the melody fresh throughout. Not much else to say--clearly over the bar!

    YES

    Garrett Williamson is The Beat Demon - The Countdown

    in Post Your Original Music!

    Posted

    To me as an indie music fan, I definitely trust Bandcamp more than CDBaby, mostly because Bandcamp is so stinkin' easy to work with both as a listener and an artist. They're very upfront about what they're doing, and how much you get, and how you can download your music (hello, Apple Lossless!). Plus, Bandcamp has a stellar system in which artists can recommend music they like, which is actually how I've gotten most of my Eye of the Storm downloads (thanks, zircon!).

    tl;dr Bandcamp has better download options and is easier for artists and listeners. Also it has massive indie cred. :-D

    Bought the album, and I'm looking forward to listening to it!

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