Gario

Heh, I'll admit that rap is certainly not my favorite genre... but this caught my ear in a good way. I thought the mash was quite clever, how you spliced the FF6 track to coincide with the rap. If nothing else, it helped the rap track greatly... sadly, I personally think the rap brought down the FF6 track, but what can you do? That's just an opinion, here; I don't like rap, so adding rap to anything is bad to my ears Great job, anyhow!

Nice remix... but that's about it, right now. It's a decent source, decent mixing, decent arrangement, etc. The problem is that overall, while there are no problems, per se, it is a little bland as it is. Working with the dynamics, like Hewhoisiam suggested, may help, but I think it needs something... else. I don't even know what (which isn't helpful, sorry!), but this needs more of an attention-getter in order to catch the eye of the people (an probably the J's, too). This shouldn't be too much of a 'problem', FireSlash, because, according to OCR rules submissions MUST be 44.1kHz if they are to be accepted. Remixers working on WIP's should be exporting their work in this format so there are no surprises in the final product. BTW, I love your quote, FireSlash... it's so true

Consider that this midi was submitted right after the winter break, it was probably just bad timing for everybody (celebrating new year, starting school/work again, presidential inauguration, etc.). You can also notice a considerable slowdown in the forums in general because of these things. Regulars are coming back to the forums in greater numbers again, so they will probably give this more attention than this last month.Edit: Looking at other competitions, it looks like it has a lot of periods of 'ups' and 'downs'. What would you expect? Unlike the PRC or anything else out there, the things that get posted here have absolutely no restrictions, implied or not. Thus, the music that needs to be mixed may sometimes be very difficult to do so (as was the case this time around, due to the relatively complex harmonies and disjoint melody). I'm not saying that anything posted here is bad, just difficult to remix. Imagine if someone posted this for the PRC. Few (if any) would mix it due to the difficulty of remixing it, and the competition would die that time around. That's why fewer of the PRC's die out like this - people don't post much music there that would be ultimately too difficult to do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m4JEuOUXd0 (I'd get a better quality one, but can't find one right now ) ORC, on the other hand, people make what they can, and if it's too difficult to mix, tough! They can't generally help what they write, so there are many cases (like this one) where the mix is too difficult to handle, and the competitiongoes down that month. I'm just saying, don't let one bad competition ruin the entire thing for everyone... I just found this, and I love it. It would be depressing if it died out now

I really like the extension to the song - it sounds much more complete overall The EQing did help me hear all of the parts much, much better. Before, I thought it was catchy and cool, now I realize that you have a whole lot of action going on down there! That's good, believe me. I think your EQ work was a little overshot, so as weird as this sounds, I think the mix in general needs to be just a little higher in the EQing (Drums and lead, in particular). The drums need a little more bass to it, too. I'd be more specific, but it's hard for me to imagine exactly what needs EQing (as I am relatively new to that)... Play with the mids, perhaps even automating them, tailoring them for each section of the song as it needs. Go go go! I want to hear the next update!

Yes, Symphony X is progressive metal, and I wouldn't dare tell you to change your style, as it is really good (Even better than Sixto in many ways... ). I was actually referring to their use of the 'symphony' during one of their album's, 'Odyssey'. Sorry if that wasn't clear before - I forgot the name of the album at the time of the last post. The samples for their instruments are... terrible, but he guitar/bass/drum work is integrated nicely in the orchestra, which consists of brass, WW's, percussion, and strings. I haven't listened to them in a while (like, for a year now?), so I can't say how well it was really done. I've got to give them another go tonight... Perhaps a better example would be the FF7 Advent Children mix of the One-Winged Angel song, and how Nobuo uses the guitar with the orchestra (as he can do no wrong!). Now, I'm not saying this is a bad remix by any stretch of the imagination, but frankly the strings in the background sound like reverb from the guitar overtones as it is (which is why, I admit, I missed them before). Also, using only strings isn't quite classified as 'symphonic' to me... I'd actually like to hear more from the other instrument groups as well (woodwinds, keyboards, perhaps a touch of brass), as the strings are getting lost in the mix. Also, if the orchestra was moving against the guitar every so often (in counter motion or as a counter melody), the texture was varied (the 'block chord' texture is used very heavily in the strings right now), and the chord structure changed every so often (as is, the only chord structures that I hear are open root chords with the root on top), the listener would hear it better. You said that your next WIP includes more orchestral work in it... I'm looking forward to that! I'm just trying to help with everything I'm saying; hopefully I clarified my last post with this one. Again, I really like the remix. The guitar is great, the drums are clear, the mix is clean, the vocalist is (*hem*, will be) great, and the source is an excellent choice. I'm just saying if you want an orchestral part behind (or, preferably, with) the guitar, you may need to work on the orchestration a bit. BTW, even if it had no orchestra in it, I think this would have a great chance of being accepted in OCR when your done with it (and the strings do help the piece, by the way ). Edit: I can' really tell if your being sarcastic with the strings in the comment, so if you are, then, well, you probably already know the stuff I said in this post

The guitar... it is too thin. If you can up the mids and lows in the EQ I think it might help a bit. It's really a bigger problem when it is naked rather than when it has the accompaniment, but fixing it will help the entire song. Interesting choice of drums. At first the bass bothered me, but after a few listens they seemed to be just about right. The 'clicky' sound of the bass reminds me of something my brother's drummer did in his band - he added a metal bar to the head of his bass and used plastic beaters. It was neat, but this isn't as extreme (which is probably a good thing, here...). Otherwise, it's great. I really like the chiptune pieces that are sprinkled throughout. The synthwork is very well done. This song is quite short; it leaves me wanting more. According to your comment, though, it doesn't look like you want to add length to this song . I'd make a few tweaks before subbing, but great job so far!

Well, I know this is a month old, but here's my 2 cents... Learn to write and orchestrate on real staff paper if your serious about orchestrating before moving on to programs; it'll help a whole lot in learning the human limits of the orchestra. Talk to instrumentalists and performers about their limits and ask them to play parts for you. If your in a band in high school or in a conservatory or university setting where musicians are readily available, talk to them. If you are not in those settings, put yourself there, then ask around. Most musicians will be more than willing to tell you what they are capable of. Of course, you can also learn a lot about timbre and things by tinkering with programs and SF's (not to mention listening to other orchestral music), but learning the instruments you write for will help dramatically in how 'real' something will sound in the end. If you write a bassoon in the c6 - c8 range or flute in the c1 - c2 range, it'll sound terrible no matter what program you use, as those instruments can never play in those ranges (most SF's won't let you play those ranges, anyway, but I've seen some that do... *cough* *Reasonorchestersoundfont* *cough*). DZComposer's got pretty much the rest down, so read his comments, too; they're important I know scifiknux probably won't read this, but I thought it might help others if they're still reading this forum ...

I'll echo what everyone else has said - it's really good so far. I was expecting, well, something symphonic in it, and missed it entirely . I'm thinking Symphony X kind of symphonic or something, but it only has guitar (really great guitar work BTW, but still only guitar). It's a small detail and doesn't take away from what's here, but it would've been cool. The music is down, however, and slapping an orchestra behind your music will do more harm than good at this point, so moving on... ... ya, I'm just complaining about the thread title. Having Starla sing over this will help the track greatly, as the guitar sounds more like an accompaniment rather than the lead, so it will complete the direction of the piece. Lufia has some very great music to mix. I'm glad your picking the best of the best here and treating it with your talent. I hope to hear this finished soon!

Youtube again... Curses! Meh, I've commented on it with you before, so moving on... The lack of samples help it's chances on OC, but you need to improve on your selection of instruments. They're too low quality to be accepted (Trust me, I've made the mistake enough to know better ). The EQ'ing needs some work, as everything (melody, harmony, bass, etc) mesh into one giant sound; if no one can hear a distinction between any of the parts, whenever you do something cool with anything no one will hear it (Boo!). The source is most certainly there, but there isn't enough deviation from it to be OC material. It's the source with additional harmonies. I will add, though, that the harmonies are delicious. I like the groove that you gave it. One of the lead synths make it sound a little gangsta at times, but it works for what it is. Perhaps saying who mixed it as a vocoded bit is a little odd, but I thought it gave it some flavor . I personally thought that the drums could've stood out a lot more than they did - they would add a lot of energy to this! Good luck - Hope to hear more from you!

Most of the mixing and panning problems are a lot better now. This is sounding great! The ending closes it off nicely. The bass drum is a little hard to hear, but it isn't too bad, really. Well, I love it. Tell us when the album is done.

Well, this could go a few different ways. Since there are synths and more real instruments in this, I wouldn't recommend the Orchestral route. Dance/Techno could feasibly work, emphasizing the synth and the cymbal buildup at the end (having it go 'double time' and kicking the listener's ass), but the drums would certainly need to be a tight techno style to work for this. You could also have this turn into a Piano ballad with other instruments accompanying it. Granted, the cymbal parts would need to go, but it could work well. Also, I don't know if I'll come across as well as I'd like, but a sort of slow rock guitar ballad could really push this nicely... sadly, I can't really put what I'm thinking into words... Gah! I hate that! For most any approach, however, I agree with The Vagrance. That gong needs to go, unless you can manage to pull something that we haven't thought of off and make it work, of course. Also, this is unfinished. I'm just giving some direction, like you asked It's up to you to finish it, taking or leaving what we say here! Go, finish it!

Look up Stravinsky on the subject... He says bad composers 'borrow' from other composers; great ones 'STEAL'!!

I could get down to this. Really, nice mix. It has very high energy (which is good) but it seems just a touch slow (I'm talking a click or two, or 4-8mm). Bring it up about that much and tell me if that helps bring the intensity out even more (Not too much, though... then it'll be a 'FRANTIC' mix... ick). The EQ is a little on the high side, so I'd bring those highs down, it'll help with the mud in some parts. The piano behind the mix are drowning in the mix right now. They're good, but they'd be better in the foreground of the mix rather than the back. The levels in general could be better balanced between instruments, as well. It's a little on the short side (and my suggestion to bring the tempo up won't help that, either ). I don't know if that can be helped, but I want more! GIMME GIMME GIMME!! Ya, the main thing bringing it down right now is the EQ and levels, after fixing those it'll be easier to hear everything else going on in here (which is a lot, I might add). Fix em' up, and I'll give this another go!

I never see ANYONE do Silver Surfer on this site, and here you are, doing your second Surfer/other WIP. Personally, I love that soundtrack to death, so I can't tell you how sweet it is seeing someone do mixes of it here. BTW, thought you'd like to check this out... http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=8223 I just found it, and thought, seeing you as the Follin fan you are, you might be interested in it. Sadly, it's old, so we cannot contribute, but something to look forward to, nonetheless. Anyway, on to the mix. It's slow, even for the style your going for. I'd speed it up about 5 - 10 clicks (20 - 40 mm) for the sake of the listeners. It's hard to listen to this tempo as is (roughly 124 - 128mm), so about 148 - 160 should be what you reach for in this. As of yet, the rhythm guitar is... boring in the beginning. The game even had some arpeggios in the background to keep the rhythmic parts interesting - perhaps you can incorporate them into it? Otherwise, the flow of the song is alright, I wouldn't worry about it too much for now. The counter melodies are good to have, but if your using them, please... PLEASE do NOT use fifths in parallel motion! It's a pet peeve of mine (if you read any of my wip comments ), but it's not personal. Trust me, there is very good reason for this. If your using a fifth, do not follow it with another fifth immediately after. 0:32 - 0:35 is an example of the fifths that I'm talking about. It continues on and off until 0:56. Now, not all fifths are bad (the one used at 0:39 - 0:40 was excellent), but the fifths that move with the melody ruin those sections. Do not take out the counter melodies altogether - that will ruin your song. Instead, if your gonna double your melody at times, use 6ths or 3rds instead, or scrap moving with the melody... move against it at times, or stay static while the melody moves under it. Use your ear to determine what is good or not, but never move with it using fifths. Look at 4:10. That's from the source, but it is moving by 3rds below the melody, not 5ths. Notice the difference in the sound. Your break at 2:20... it is the source, so can't complain there, it's pure awesome Gotta tell you that the ringing chords behind the theme at 3:09 are... amazing. I'm in love with that sound. I feel this needs more moments like it, but... well, your call, not mine I really like the transition from SS to MM from 3:56 - 4:10. Subtle, yet the listener can tell there is something new happening. 4:58 only sounds tacked on because you don't use very many polyphonic lines in the music before. If you either change it so more moments happen before like it (like the Silver Surfer lines I suggested before) or change the line to a more rhythmic strum (like you use throughout the song) my make it work better. I wouldn't like to see it removed, though; otherwise, the second half of the MM would not be in the song, and it is a good part. As was said before in your Jewelman mix, the mixing IMO is great for the style, but it may need a little work in the EQ'ing toning down the mids and bringing out some of the highs and lows if you want this to be on OC. I'd comment on the drums, but you said yourself that your still tinkering with them, so I'll leave them alone for now BTW - I'd put the source tunes up in the forum for your WIP's - the SS one is not that common, so people wouldn't know what you were remixing. Here they are for you. MM1 - Wily 1-2 SS - Emperor's / Mephisto's level (not Possessor, like in the video comments >) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFWXgk1VMwI I'm happy that someone is finally mixing some Silver Surfer. It makes me happy. Continue and keep us posted - I want to hear more of this! It's good stuff.

Very interesting. I believe this track would work great with vocals, but the track on top of it as is doesn't work for me right now. I understand that it is a rough cut of this, so it is an experiment right now. The singer is good, but the diction is sloppy. A little bit better articulation of the words would help a lot. For this one you really need some sort of structured phrasing for the singing; improvised singing over the track brings it down at the moment. If you want to add the singing, work on a line for her to sing and something to sing about. That said, keep going with this. It could be better than before with vocals, but they're gonna need work. BTW, I still think this is awesome, with or without the singing; Mandrill needs some serious love on this site.

Ok, here it is, you all. http://www.box.net/shared/qx5np2ooxt Enjoy!

Seriously... I made it, but my brother missed it by 18 seconds... 18 SECONDS!! Shame, 'cause it was pretty cool... He'll return next week, I guess...

This looks like fun! I'm gonna give this a shot, and see if my brother can do it, as well Good practice, and a good diversion from my current projects!

If the quality is bad on Youtube (which it always is), then switch to another provider and post an MP3 file. http://www.ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17685 should point you in the right direction. The sound is pretty catchy and neat, but it's not for OC. Nothin' you can do, either; even if you boosted the sound quality and changed a whole bunch of stuff, the style and heavy soundbite usage would still get you. OLR and Remix - ThaSauce would probably accept it quite readily, however. Well, that's a quote from ThaSauce, himself, there. Thus, it would be a close call, not 'readily accepted', as I said before Wish you the best for the future!

Like I've said before, I agree with alot of this, and I am making the changes before sub'ing it, then running it by a judge. I'm confident, but I know there are some changes that need to be made. I have been 'no'd' before WITHOUT feedback before ('cause the remix sucked that badly - I've learned since), and even then it's not a bad thing at all - just tells you where you are musically. I'm not afraid of being rejected, but of getting feedback that I already knew about from the J's. Before submitting, I've gotta make every fix that I'm aware of so the feedback from a rejection will help me more (or the sub is accepted instead of rejected entirely). I'm working on some other things for a week or two before finishing this up - my computer has some viruses and the power cable caught fire (both things happened on the same day). My song is safe, fortunately, but can't get much done without these things fixed. I've got other workspaces, but nothing that will help me with production issues much. In other words, give me a week or two to fix these things up and run this by a J or two, it'll get done (eventually).

Ya, when I get the next version out, I'll try to get a judge to hear it (Zircon or BGC)... Do I just PM them or something? Ha, that's how I feel about that part, too. Glad we're hearing the same thing there I wasn't gonna wait for Rayza... I've gotten used to all sorts of criticisms over the years (not on OCR, but elsewhere), so I know when to ignore and when to listen. As respected as he is, one still can't take a comment like that too seriously, unless he wanted to end his musical career real early . I understand your comment on the drums, Dafydd, but I don't feel they take from the music too much. Again, perhaps I'll experiment, but... well, I kinda like em' as they are

Thank you Pander for the feedback - I haven't submitted yet so I could make the changes if needed Listening to this again, I'd have to agree with you on the lead synth. I'll tinker with a few ideas and see if I can fix it up. The levels definitely need to be fixed at the end. After working on this for a while listening to the EQ work, the levels themselves bypassed me completely... needed some fresh ears there 'fraid I've gotta disagree there... the main melody from the intro is the central element from 0:32 - 0:55. Listen to the very beginning of the source again; the part is augmented and had a few fast notes taken out, but it's the source, through and through. Same thing can be said with 3:04 - 3:27. It's not the main tune you hear in the game, but from the intro of the song. I think (hope) the J's will let me get away with that, as I cannot fit the source in anywhere else (I've tried; it sounds much too 'forced').I'm gonna make the changes soon, just haven't had the opportunity yet. Stay tuned!

Well holy shit, dude. I cannot believe that Follin is getting love here! He's up there for 'huge inspiration' with Nobuo and Bunbun for me! Yes, this post is an old one, and it's a shame, as I'd have loved to participate in any way... but I'm still an unknown and it's coming out January - March this year... Please tell me somebody is doing some of the soundtrack for Silver Surfer. I'd do it myself, but for the reasons above, I obviously can't for this project Can't wait for this! Edit: I just looked, and it seems Silver Surfer was most certainly included. I love you guys *wipes a tear*!

This is pretty neat. I personally love writing music for other games... of course, fan based, not for big companies. Personally, the panning is a bit extreme, but other than that is works for what this is for. I'm sure the gamer will be interesting, especially if it is a fan 3d game. Hope to hear more from this in the future

Everyone's said it before, and I'll say it again. Great song, great improv. If you want anything to improve, again, I'll echo that there needs to be more than the first two chords repeated... I hear something different come in every once in a while, but not often enough to get the C7 F7 sound out of my head. Use some substitutions of C7 and F7 to add flavor without screwing with the improvisation too much (Em6 or Am9 come to mind for C7... are those right? Am9 - A,C,E,G,B? Jazz notation isn't my thing...). Also, there are places where the sax doesn't come out over the piano enough. Next recording I'd recommend coming out a little more when you carry the improvisation. I think there is enough original material to get by, due to how often it is referenced in the improv's. More references in the piano wouldn't hurt, though . Great piece! Can't really say much more than this - get the last recording and submit this!