Flexstyle

I'm gonna miss Harmless/Toxic/Sytrus, but that's okay. I used to be a very heavy user of 3xOsc, and I've actually been using a lot of 404 in some of my soundtrack work lately. Bring it, yo!

Nah, BM, you're good. You're obviously putting thought into each comment, so I would be surprised if Emu takes issue with what you've posted thus far. Oh, and StarTrick, I'm having no problems with those FLAC files, myself. I can send you the files, if you want--perhaps they got corrupted in a torrent download or something?

Because you have a penchant for self-punishment with the best of torture instruments?

I like the cheesiness, lol. Brings back memories of old-school rap.

Hm, let's see. I'm in the midst of scoring a game that should see release on Steam early next year, and I got my associate's degree and am now at university. I am playing sports with some more frequency, although I do still ingest a lot of sugar. I'd say 2.5/5 ain't bad at all.

Awesome! Glad I don't have to worry about making you hold on to it very long, heh.

I am, officially, not coming. Ended up spending the money that would have gone towards my plane ticket on a new steering rack for my car earlier this fall, and haven't been able to recover since. Bahamut, I may need to speak to you about that since I bought the entrance pass through you?

So, Mirby, what you're saying is:

I really, really hope that's all this is, haha. If so, well played.

Wow. I just...wow. This really is Killer Studio Chops all over again, isn't it? We don't want, nor do we need some random schmuck's "teaching." This album is loved by thousands upon thousands of excellent people, and that's good enough for me. I just have nothing else to say to someone who clearly has her proverbial head so far up her derrière that she can see nothing but her own innards. Good day to you, madam.

It honestly depends for me. If it's a source tune that I'm REALLY feeling, and a genre or soundset that I have plenty of presets for, then I can crank a song out in as little as four hours. However, I've had other mixes that have taken me a few weeks to complete, because of their complexity or other requirements.

My favorite tracks so far are Neurobazaar, Identity Sequence, The Expanse, and The End. It's a really, really stellar album though. Every song has its purpose in the storyline, and I love the entire product.

Right then, looks like it's me, DDRK, and GLL. This should be good.

I think the key is to take it in disc-sized chunks. Otherwise, it definitely gets super-overwhelming. Either that or just take a long roadtrip with nothing but this in your stereo. From experience, that works quite nicely as well.

Totally doing this. Gimme a little bit to put together a team--message me if you're interested!

Buying this as soon as I can afford it.

This is starting off very badly. You're missing the point. This was about setting up an epic journey, not preserving your idea of childhood nostalgia. That should be obvious from the album writeups. There have been FAR more risque references and/or lyrical themes in past OC ReMixes. Swearing, references to being drunk, etc. What's the difference? You have no sense of humor, clearly. Seriously though, listen to it. The melodies are definitely there. I guarantee that. You wouldn't have liked the other interpretation that got scrapped, either, I think. And by "developers," do you mean "directors?" You're the only one who sees a drug reference here. Please, let us know how it feels up on your high horse some more. EDIT: Just looked at your profile and saw that you're a music teacher. No wonder you have no appreciation for musical innovation. Do I have to list how many musicians and composers were insulted similarly before history elevated them to their proper places? They won't be, because you're wrong. Basically, what I read up there is something along the lines of "oh, I'm a genre snob, and I hate electronic music, and I'm going to take a dump all over the three years of work that sixty+ people spent on this bringing it to professional quality, endorsed by Dave Wise himself, and expect to get some kind of positive reaction." I know I didn't have to go and respond to that, but as someone who sunk a LOT of my personal time and effort into this, I'm really offended. I don't care if you don't like it, but don't you dare insult me and others by insinuating that we deliberately made a pile of garbage.

I am so down with an FL gauntlet.

Here's the thing, pmac: I think you're spot on with your comments about the overall feel of a soundtrack. Emunator did a fantastic job squeezing the best possible songs out of the remixers, and Cody and Emu poured many hours into making sure the album flowed *perfectly*. Obviously, it shows, and it's really kind of you to mention that you noticed that. That said, I think you're really doing a disservice to Robbie (AkumajoBelmont) and Jason by downplaying their track. It's a perfectly legitimate genre, and one that was MASSIVE in many portions of Europe for a long time. Certainly, "only for 12-year-olds" is rather inaccurate. Everyone is, of course, firmly entitled to their personal opinions, and there's obviously going to be likes and dislikes of every song along the way. I would, however, entreat you to keep in mind that a LOT of work went into each song, and publicly decrying it as "sub-par" is not a terribly great way of approaching it. Plus, if you're not a big fan of the Eurodance style, try the hard-edged breakbeat remix I did on the bonus disc!

<MODREVIEW> Right, negatives first. Let's start off with the mix. The first thing I notice off the bat is that there's very little discernible bass in the mix. The kick is weak, and the bassline is hard to hear during the main portion of the mix. Add that to the fact that there's very little in the way of bass frequencies throughout the mix, and there's a bit of a problem there. I suspect some compression will be your friend on that kick. What's your current DAW? I can give FL-specific tips much more easily, heh. The piano could really use some more quantizing, honestly. I know there's a line to balance between natural and mechanical, but you'll almost want to stray more towards the side of mechanical for a song of this genre, IMO. Do you have reverb on that open hat? I'd take a lot of that off, if that's the case. Honestly, the 909 open hat doesn't really make a good driving, rock-esque hat, so you might consider just putting it in for every off-beat. I'd take a bit of reverb off of the snare, too. You'd be surprised how little reverb is actually needed on DnB drums. Definitely lower the high-cut, as well, since those extra high frequency reverberations aren't really helping for the snare, either. Some of the drum fills are just a bit awkward, with the hat changing its rhythm just enough to sound a bit contrived. Also, just as a suggestion, I like to stick a sampled break (like an Amen break or something) or two into every DnB song I make. Just helps to fill out the spectrum a bit. Not every song needs to have this, but I like to use breaks a lot when possible. Now, let's get to the good stuff. I really like this arrangement, and the guitar work sounds really solid to me. Your synth leads are quite nice, and I love when you intertwine the leads together, whether they be guitar or synthesizer. Overall, I'd say that the lead actors in this production have really got their acts together. Now, all you need to do is focus on the supporting cast. Get a bassline in there so that we can hear it, get the drums tightened up (maybe consider different samples?), and really make this thing shine. I can think of no better example to give you than my own recently-released track from the DKC3 album, since it's almost the exact same style. Hard-driving, guitar-laden, synth-lead-toting DnB. You'd be appalled at the amount of compression I used on the kick and snare, haha, but that's sometimes what it takes. You can really change the sonic character of a drum sample by throwing it through three or four different compressors. Hopefully this helps out! </MODREVIEW>

What? No comments on this one yet? That's a shame. It's a fantastically groovy chilled-house number, and toward the end there's one of my very favorite moments on the album, with the extension of the melody. Top-notch stuff!

*cough* So, this may come across as a bit harsh, but I promise I'm not trying to be mean! Here goes. Right, a few things up front: the kick is REALLY freaking bassy. Like, almost painfully so. Also, your master compression is really hurting the overall mix. There are parts of the song that sound quite distorted. As far as an arrangement goes, I'd rather just give a few tips. First off, to pull off a really good OCR trance song, I'd look no further than to our resident expert, bLiNd. If you listen to his take on JENOVA (here), you'll notice that not only does he have the main melody in there, but he's also added a couple different supporting arpeggios, woven in and out throughout the song. By varying the supporting instrumentation along with keeping the main melody at the forefront, he creates a really good trance mix. That's not enough, though. He's got clearly defined sections, and each section brings something truly interesting to the table. He doesn't pass off repetition with just an instrument added or subtracted as a separate section. Everything is interesting, and everything is evolving. Essentially, keep everything evolving. Don't let yourself repeat the same patterns too many times. Even if it's just a small change, always be changing SOMETHING. deadmau5, for instance, is a master of this, even at his most minimal. A filter, a drum pattern, a small change in the pad line, whatever. Finally, try and get some extra mixing tips. Learn how to make a polished electronic mix, and don't resort to the brickwall compressor until it's already a pristine mix. Use a high-pass EQ on anything that isn't a bassline or kick. Be ruthless in cutting unnecessary frequencies out. Electronic music truly stands out when it's polished, and I think that you really can make up for a certain amount of arrangement skill as long as the song is polished enough--see above, with my Concrete Man mix I linked to. Hopefully that helps a bit, sir!