Flexstyle

Well, like I said, I stuck everything big-sample-related (Kontakt libraries, EastWest libraries, etc.) on a 500 GB SSD. Load times aren't determined by RAM, but rather by the storage medium. Your iMac probably has a 7200 RPM hard drive in it, so load times will be pretty slow for EastWest patches. Honestly at this point, it won't hurt you to buy a new PC, since your current rig is at the 3-year-old mark. If you're not looking forward to building your own, there's a guy on this forum who's done a lot of PC builds for various OCR folks. That said, if you would like to try and squeeze a bit of life out of your current iMac, the first thing I'd do would be buy the biggest SSD I could afford (I recommend the Samsung Evo) and upgrade the RAM to as big as it'll hold. It's cheaper than buying a new PC, and you can always use the new SSD in your next PC build once that happens.

FWIW, I'm running a PC that was built back in 2011 with 8 GB of RAM, and ever since I stuck all my EastWest samples on an SSD, I've had no trouble. You really don't need more than 8 GB of RAM for 99% of music production. 16GB if you're feeling skittish, but that's honestly still overkill.

Sweet merciful mother of pearl--Vinnie, drop a warning for long songs? Ahem. Anyways. Let's tackle this monstrosity! Right off the bat I've got some key issues: - Drums - Quantization - Mixing - Pauses/Transitions/Arrangement Let's tackle these one by one. 1. Drums: The kit you're using has very very little in the way of dynamics. What I mean by that is that no matter how hard you play the sample, it's still the same static sample--no variation at all. There are a ton of great drum kits out there that allow you a much more realistic sound without breaking the bank. That's assuming these were sequenced--and if they were played on a drum machine or electric kit, you might want to consider sequencing drums instead, as you'll probably get a lot more options that way. 2. Quantization: I'm noticing that basically everything that isn't a guitar or bass guitar is heavily quantized, meaning all the notes are rigidly snapped to exact timing. That's not what we need to have in a rock song, and in fact, it tends to clash with the other "natural" sounds of the guitars. No human can play precisely on beat for every single beat, so give it a bit of loosening up! Don't make every snare hit on exactly every other quarter note, and don't make the organ hit perfect sixteenth notes. Give it some soul! 3. Mixing: Just a couple issues I'd prefer to point out here. I'm feeling like some of the guitars may be a bit imbalanced--the lead guitar is a bit too quiet, and I'm feeling like everything just a bit dull on that end. Not enough sheen to the sound. A bit of EQ love might help your case there. That goes for both the lead and the rhythm guitars. Also, ya gotta bring the guitars (all of them) up in the mix to compete with the drums, which are definitely the loudest instrument right now. The drums: the hat is way too loud, even for the way it's currently mixed, during parts of the song (starts at 0:30). Definitely need to get that toned down if the drums were to be redone. 4. Arrangement, etc: So, correct me if I'm wrong here, judges, but this seems a bit medley- and cover-esque. I'm not sensing a lot of actual original arrangement here. Usually we need some more original interpretation besides just instrument changes and a solo on top. I'm hearing a pause between sections (e.g. source tune switches), and not a lot to really tie anything together. The thing tends to drag just a bit as well, without a lot of variation in drum patterns during many sections--I found myself just waiting for the section to end so I could hear something new a few times. I know you're working with four sources, but you might be better off shaving entire minutes of this song off in order to make it less tedious to listen to. Compress some sections, maybe even consider losing a couple source tunes and focusing your efforts on one specific or two specific source tunes. Finally, a fadeout ending? Gotta give me something better than that after you've thrown seven and a half minutes at me--surely you can do it! Yeah, definitely a lot of issues here, and I didn't cover everything. I dig the guitar chops, and this wasn't a bad listen, but you may want to take this to the workshop forums after giving it another whirl. NO

My newbie has been basically MIA. SamAreAye, I gotta know what to help ya with, dude!

Aww man, I wish those lyrics weren't there--or rather, I almost wish that I just hadn't found out about them (as of today). This has always been one of my very favorite OCR classic tracks--super catchy arrangement, chewy drums, nice phat synths. Don't reeeeeally wanna be blastin' a demonic roll call, though.

They're not 80 minutes each, but I do post the recordings of my DJ sets on Soundcloud occasionally. I tend to use mostly OCR-related material when I play live. Grab the latest mixes from bLiNd and Ben Briggs while you're at it, too!

I think this song is greater than the sum of its parts. As has been mentioned above, that piano is definitely mechanical. The part is well-written, though, and that nearly makes up for it. I actually really like the fake lead guitar, since it kinda gives me a throwback to some older game OST sound choices. Seems appropriate for such a storied franchise like Street Fighter. The overall mix seems to have everything just a bit too prominent--part of that is because the stereo field is almost totally neglected--there are several instruments at about the same volume level in the same spot in the stereo field. Also, I think there's a bit of a midrange bump in there somewhere that makes it sound just a bit harsh. Might be the speakers/headphones you're mixing on. I do like the drum writing, even if I'm not personally a huge fan of the kit you used. So yeah, I'm comfortable passing this one. It may not be the single most technically-excellent mix we've ever gotten, but it's definitely above the bar, thanks to a great arrangement and a passable mixdown. YES

Y'all better get ready for some hard times, because winning this compo will be the happiest days of my life.

Created a if anyone wants it.

In no particular order: Ice Cap Zone (yes, I actually really want this source!) Hydrocity Zone (Sonic and Knuckles) Rusty Ruin Act 1 (Sonic 3D Blast Genesis) Panic Puppet Act 2 (3D Blast Genesis) Bridge Zone (Sonic 1 on Sega Master System)

It's not a picture or a video, but it IS a live set. If you'd care to hear my MAG set again, here it is!

Yeah, that's a fantastic soundtrack. I have it in one of my favorite Spotify playlists.

Hey SamAreAye, just hit me up via Skype or something and we can talk at your convenience. electromikebirch is the username.

This, minus the sleep schedule mess.

I'd have to say that overall, this track is...perfectly dark. *exits to chorus of boos* Actually, in all seriousness, I really enjoyed this one. It's clear there's a lot of source usage, although you didn't use all of the source, which made me a bit sad. That said, I'm a huge fan of those drums. They never get old, despite being essentially the same throughout the entire song. Fantastic work on the glitch processing to keep it fresh! My only nitpick on them would be that they seem to be just a tad too far forward in the mix, but that might be a personal thing. I will side with OA in that some of the lead sounds you used didn't really jive with the atmosphere of the song, being a bit dry and a bit bright, but the fact that the screencap you had as the album picture was all neon and stuff made me forgive it a bit more. The filtered/detuned saw lead would be what I'm referring to here, since they fit in nicely with that Blade Runner-esque vibe of the screencap. I don't mind that little dissonant section, as it resolves itself nicely. Yeah, I'm definitely comfortable passing this one. Source usage is go, the drums are fantastically glitchy, and the atmosphere is thick. Production across the board is definitely above the bar. YES

Special thanks to OA for actually being able to play an instrument live and therefore allowing our song to qualify for DoD in the first place.

I think I have that same PSU in my rig. It replaced an under-juiced Antec unit, and it's been amazing thus far. Highly recommended, as Rosewill tends make some good stuff, being Newegg's house brand.

I'll go ahead and sign up for this round. Attn: novices, you'll do best with me if you use FL Studio. (also, talk at me a lot--I may not always answer, but I read everything, and try to give meaningful feedback whenever I have time)

I've installed the app. Add me or something, I guess?

I am royally pissed that the bank isn't ready yet. I wanted to have my team ready for MAGfest, dammit!

Oh c'mon, you didn't use duct tape? That's not a true kludge job.

I listened to this like five times on Soundcloud. Great stuff!

To me, this is a fantastic example of what a track can sound like after multiple revisions with input from a lot of people. As one of the folks who helped Corey out a lot with this track, I've heard it go through many different iterations. It started off with a lot of production and pacing problems, but Corey took all the feedback to heart and really put in the work on this one. I think all this hard work really shows. The production is very clean at this point, and the song never drags on to me, even though it's a bit repetitive in its source usage. Clearly uses source throughout most of it, too. Folks, take notice--this is how you you elaborate on a sparse source without getting boring. You take the source, and play through it, and then do it again with variation, and then change up filtering and sounds, and cool stuff like that. Add some sound effects here, some scratching there. Change the backing track as it goes on. There's always something new and cool to hear, even if it's the same basic notes. This is also a neat exercise in having a 4-on-the-floor track without a completely in-your-face kick drum. I mean, it's there, but it's not very deep and it's not smacking you in the head every time it hits. Usually that just means it's a wimpy kick, but this track manages to pull it off to where it actually sounds like it belongs, due to how well the rest of the percussion meshes with the track as well, and how well everything is mixed together spectrum-wise. It's a very unique-sounding electronica track, and I think it's a worthy addition to the front page. I'm proud to give this one a.... YES

Aha, this song! Hello, fellow One Hour Conquistador! Man, I wish I'd been able to actually get all three of my songs done--since we cut off after round 8, I didn't get to go that third time for round 9. ANYWAYS enough about me. I already know I love this song, but now I gotta actually put on my jooj-hat and give it a thorough, critical listening-to. Here goes. Alright, done listening. Still freakin' love this tune. I agree that the source usage is on the sparse side, but I can definitely tell it's a Ground Man remix. The bassline is always there, and there's plenty of melody line usage for me. Production-wise, my only problem is that it does get a bit crowded in the upper range, especially since the whole thing could stand to be just a bit less treble-y. Obviously, the piano sample isn't great, but I think it's appropriate to overlook that in this case. Love the attention paid to the snare and other percussion details--having seen the project file first-hand, I'm still amazed that this was pulled off with just the FL defaults. Let's see this get some front-page action! YES

Uh, yeah, there's not a whole lot I can say about this one that hasn't been said, but it's sweet. Even though it's conservative, it doesn't reek of "cover" to me by any stretch of the imagination. Plenty of personalizing to my ears. The production is very clean; every element has its place in the mix, and the parts are tight without being mechanical. While I'm not a huge fan of the hi-hat samples, that's a very minor nitpick. Enough talk, let's get this on the front page! YES