Flexstyle

<MODREVIEW> 1. The mixing is decent, but I still feel like everything's a tad bit crowded. This is more a function of the arrangement, and not of the actual mixing, since there are several instruments playing at the same time that take up the same sonic space. Also, a bass instrument of some sort, while not essential, would definitely help to round out the sound. Maybe introduce it partway through the song. 2. It still feels really mechanical, especially with the plucked....trills? I think that's the term. Those don't sound terribly natural. I know it's a function of the patch you're using, but it could use a bit of tweaking. 3. I concur with Tim, in that the arrangement, while containing tempo and key changes, doesn't really evolve very much. The patterns all sound the same, even if in different keys and at different speeds. It's a very "flat" sound. Plus, the transitions between those changes are quite abrupt, and really need to be smoothed out with perhaps some additional writing and even extra percussion fills. Good stuff thus far, but it does need a decent amount of work as well. </MODREVIEW>

It's...funky AND br00tal? I dig it so much. Nice job!

Officially, I'm very interested. Since I'm one of the more experienced EDM producers on the site, and since I've been itching to direct a project for a while now, this sounds right up my alley. I'd need a co-director or two, since there's no way I'll be able to do it just by myself, but other than that I'm pretty sure I can do it.

Really like this mix. It's a very clean sound, and the whole "voice-as-an-instrument" thing works really nicely.

I used to play the crap out of a game called Nerf Arena Blast. Not airsoft, but even more innocuous than that! I also used to play a paintball game. I forget what it was called, though.

Meet the Workshop Moderators! The purpose of this thread is to give any would-be workshop denizen the ability to best utilize the staff here. In other words, here's what you need to know about each one of us! Each of us are here to help you grow as a musician and (hopefully) into a posted ReMixer. However, not all of us operate the same way, and we each have different backgrounds. Some of us are in different time zones, and we all have projects, lives, family, and music of our own to attend to. Nonetheless, the reason we're workshop mods is because we each have a passion for helping others improve. ambient (yes, with a small "a") Real name: Alex Gventsadze Location: Georgia Occupation: Professional Services Preferred method of contact: PM Also reachable by: TBD Five OSTs I recommend: Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Streets of Rage, Streets of Rage 2, Tekken Tag Tournament 2. About me: Far from a professional musician (though I have a bit of a background in classical piano and upright bass), my involvement in any kind of creative process associated with music is limited to what I do on OCR. I mainly focus on electronic music and could offer only limited input when it comes to other musical styles. I've been a part of the OCR community since the early 2000s. Argle Real name: Adam Kirby Location: Tinley Park, IL, USA Occupation: Programmer analyst Preferred method of contact: PM Five OSTs I recommend: Chrono Trigger , King's Bounty: the Legend, Rayman, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Super Mario Galaxy About me: just a dude who likes to make teh remixes. Been at the music thing for over a decade. I play violin and guitar but I consider that secondary to composing computer-based music. I try to write in a variety of genres to prevent myself from getting bored, and would like to think I can give feedback on pretty much any genre. Look forward to helping people out! Gario Real name: Gregory Nourse Location: Palos Verdes Estate, California, USA Occupation: Electrical Engineer (Student), General Contractor Preferred method of contact: Skype (TheGreatGario), PM Also reachable by: AIM, Newgrounds PM (Gario), FB Five OSTs I recommend: Dragonseed, Megaman Soccer, Final Fantasy 8, Utopia (SNES), Saga 2/3 (Final Fantasy Legends, in USA) About me: I have my degree in Music Theory and Composition from UNM (back in 2008... hard to believe it's been that long already), and as such I've actually had a lot of experience listening to all sorts of styles of music (both tonal and atonal). As such, one area I'm particularly keen on is arrangement, voice leading and orchestration of the track. As of 2008 I've done a lot of work on my own learning the ins and outs of production, so I can give some solid advice on that front, as well. I'd like to be as diligent as possible on these boards, though unfortunately I've only had time to browse them actively once a week, roughly. If you send out a PM I'd be happy to direct some Mod Review justice your way, though - a friendly request often serves you well! Rozovian Real name: Ad G Location: Finland Occupation: TBD Preferred method of contact: PM Also reachable by: AIM, Skype, email Five OSTs I recommend: Seiken Densetsu 3, Halo 3 ODST, Bastion, Super Metroid, Mirror's Edge About me: I complain about the compression in your mix, and leave figuring out source usage to the other mods. And I have a beard. XPRTNovice Real name: Joseph Zieja Location: Northern Virginia (changes almost yearly) Occupation: Voiceover Artist Preferred method of contact: OCR PM at the moment Also reachable by: Skype, mIRC sometimes, pigeon OSTs I recommend: Xenogears, Persona 3 About Me: Relatively new to OCR (joined January 2012), but I've been a musician for over 20 years. My highlight seems to be the amount of instruments I play (at widely varying different skill levels of course), which include 4 saxophones, clarinet, guitar, mandolin, trumpet, french horn, flute, piano, and oud. I'm also a voiceover artist and fantasy/science fiction author on the side (hopefully some good news about my books coming in 2014). I'm glad to be a part of the OCR community and now I'm thrilled to be a part of the staff as well. I look forward to growing with you all. WillRock (Judge) Real name: William Harby Location: UK Occupation: Composer Preferred method of contact: Skype (WillRock07), PM, Facebook Also reachable by: AIM, IRC Five OSTs I recommend: iunno About me: Dunno. You guys can look me up here. Also work as a composer for edgebee studios. Got a degree in music tech. Etc. Reason i'm posting here is because I don't frequent the boards, and i'm technically still a WS Mod. but I DO like to look and help out people with their tracks, particularly if they come to me in person. Its better to send me a direct message (AIM/IRC/Skype) rather than PM because otherwise I may think "i'll look later" and not get around to it, but contact me and i'll more than happily help out anyone who needs it. I wouldn't class myself as particularly great with a specific area of critique but i'm a good all rounder and can probably give a decent idea if something will pass the panel or not. Hit me up on Skype!

iTunes tracks are DRM-free these days. No sweat playing them on my Android phone, for instance. I don't see what the big deal is.

I can't not like music. Rhythm has been a key part of the fabric of my being since I was tiny. I love sound, I love stringing sounds together, and I like when this is done in manner that involves some kind of order.

I'd love to comment, 'cept there's no link!

Looks like I'll be at MAG12, and I think I've even got a room lined up already. Just gotta buy some plane tickets and I'm in business!

Honestly, you're going to get the most feedback out of the WIPs board.

I recall listening to it on some cheap earbuds and not really hearing anything glaring a week or so ago. I can take a closer listen later on, if you'd like, though.

Thank you for making it available on Spotify! I don't have a lot of spare cash right now, so I'm glad I get to listen to it regardless. Loving the first track so far!

As long as (a) there are drivers available for Win7/Win8/whatever you're using to build the new desktop, and ( your new motherboard has a PCI slot, I'd say stick with the old M-Audio card. I've got an M-Audio Delta 1010LT in my rig right now, and that thing is super-stable with great audio quality. Not looking forward to having to use USB on the next rig, because I've never had a truly stable USB sound card yet. EDIT: If the new PC has firewire, see about using something with that. It's far better suited to transmitting audio data.

Actually, I've never used a bass guitar as the bass in a DnB-focused track. Synthetic bass (usually a Reese derivation of some sort) is my go-to when the drums are as synthetic as the ones you've got going here. Something like is probably as good an example as any.

I've had this same pair of Beyerdynamic DT880 phones for about 4.5 years now, and I've only had to do one repair, which was fixing a frayed cable for one of the earpieces. Fairly easy fix, really. Anyways, I do a few things: 1. Don't let anyone else grab them unless I'm right there supervising. Seriously. If you don't absolutely KNOW that the person using them is going to baby them as much as you, don't let 'em use your good headphones. 2. Don't stretch the band out over the top of your head to put the headphones on. Just slip them on from the front of your face, and that'll save a lot of wear on the band. 3. Have a dedicated place for them, and then keep them there when they're not being used. For me, that's just hanging on the side of my desk, but it's a fairly secure place with very little traffic. 4. DO NOT WRAP THE CORD TIGHTLY! This is one of the biggest mistakes I see with people and their headphones. If you must wrap the cable, give it a LOT of slack out of the earpiece(s), and THEN wrap the cable. 5. You're already on track with this, but invest in a pair of solidly-built headphones. No plastic crap, cos that breaks quickly. Metal construction is where it's at. Bonus: these are usually easier to work on, too, since they're held together with screws instead of glue. I haven't broken a pair of headphones beyond a simple electrical fix in a few years, so hopefully this helps you do the same!

So, just a few thoughts on bass mixing: 1. In DnB and breakbeat type tracks, I usually sidechain my bass synth or synths to both my kick and my snare. Often times I'll do this by creating a separate, "trigger" sample that actually triggers the sidechaining, but this sample hits at the same time as most of the kick and snare hits. 2. You might consider adding another layer to the bass, as it's mostly just sub frequencies right now. I understand that you want to leave room in the upper frequency range for your other instruments, but it'll be sidechained against the kick and snare anyways, leaving some room. This will make the bass sound a lot more powerful, because it'll have a much more full sound. 3. Finally, make sure that your kick and bass occupy predominantly different layers of the low end. My personal preference (which it sounds like is what's happening here, for the most part) is to let the kick occupy down to about 60 hz, and then let the bass be underneath that. I usually do some creative EQing to scoop the appropriate frequencies. I also usually don't let the kick occupy above about...oh, I dunno, 120 hz? for very long. That's usually where I like my snare to be, so I do a bit of a scoop there as well on the kick channel. Hopefully that gives some insight for you.

I would like to point out that I have provided a good, solid WIP, and that my track should now be colored blue instead of maroon.

Color me very interested. I'd be thrilled at being able to branch out into orchestral arrangement.

Beyerdynamic DT-880 user here, and I love mine. I can get close to what I'm looking for in a mix, with usually just a little bit of tweaking needed afterwards. I've used the Sennheiser HD280 set before, and I really didn't care for them at all. Mine had really weird frequency issues to where anything I mixed came out super-muffled, even if it sounded great on the headphones. Can't speak to Grado or AKG.

I'd love to contribute. Would give me an excuse to try out some of my more organic sounds that I've gotten recently.

Guess I was about...I dunno, 13 or so when I really started writing my own songs on the piano. My teacher introduced me to digital music composition at the age of about 15, and of course I've been ruined for life ever since.

This is one of my very favorites from the album, and it's also one that I voted as my top favorite in the staff voting-for-contest-entries thingy. So yeah, love it.

Yeah, Firebird uses a somewhat unique synthesis engine, I think, and the filters and reverbs are top-notch. Cheers y'all!

I'm not going to claim anything at this point, but feel free to consider me a resource for evaluation, etc., at this point.