Gario

Mmm, FF5's main theme - it really is one of the better soundtracks for the FF series, and one that is severely underrated. This arrangement helps bring to the fore just what is so good about it - those melodies are gorgeous. Lovely strings, and that oboe is a very nice touch to the whole thing. The harmonies are quite rich and sexy, too. The oboe could use less attack, as it separates every note, which makes it sound disjunct. If it's the sample then one thing you can do to compensate is to increase the attack and release a little and overlap the notes a little, bleeding from one note to the next. Love the source choice, and enjoyed the arrangement. I hope to hear more from you, man.

MOD REVIEW Oh, very soft approach to take, here. Kind of reminds me of Narada Decade - mellow and pleasant. Let's see how it holds up over the long run, though. Production is pretty good on this one. I feel that synth choir is just a touch loud throughout, but that's a pretty easy fix (just turn it down a decible or two). The sources are there, so I don't think you'll get into any trouble on that front. One thing that does bug me is that the harmonic pattern is very, very repetitive, and it gives the song a very droning feel. I know you do different things in the song with the melody and instrumentation, but the harmony is virtually the same throughout the piece. The synth choir is also a little too prevelant throughout the song, as well - it contributes to the overall same-ness that I hear throughout the song. The fade-out ending does not do you any favors in this track. A complete ending would help bookend the track, and it might give you somewhere to guide your song to, ultimately. I like the textures, and the use of the sources is neat, but the arrangement drones on without much definite direction, the harmony stays doing the same thing throughout and there's a fade out ending. The production has little to no issue, and the mixing is good, so you do have a lot going for you. I believe the arrangement issues would bring this one down to a NO, though - I recommend giving the arrangement a good hard look and see if there's anything you can do with the repetitive nature of the harmony. Best of luck, Garpocalypse!

Ooo, FF9 Boss remix, eh? I did an arrangement of this one some time ago (though you won't hear it until the FF9 album comes out ), so it'll be interesting to hear another take on it... To be honest, though, I don't hear the source in this at all, so I'm guessing you're building up to it. Okay, orchestral instruments and how to use them (since you're asking) - yes, there are ways to make them sound more human, and it mostly revolve around understanding how the instrument works, what it's natural ranges are, how someone would accent notes & why, etc.. I'm afraid there is no short answer as to how to get the most out of an orchestral patch, but it's really about how an instrument would actually sound in a given situation, then using attack, release, volume and note placement in order to simulate that sound. For an example, I personally know when a violin section moves into a chord they tend to go from silence to full sound, but when they change notes there is no such swell, so I would personally raise the volume from nothing to the full sound, then leave the full sound while changing notes. If the sample is odd and has too strong of an accent (like it hits the next note) I could have about a 0.25s release and a 0.25 attack on the note, blending the change of notes more seemlessly (and more importantly, ridding myself of the attack). It's tricks like this that really help rid oneself of the mechanical feel of instruments on a DAW. Using a decent sounding reverb consistently for your instruments also help you make the instruments sound real, as well, so be sure to dabble in creating a good reverb sound for your orchestra. I hope some of this advice helps!

Well, that's an incredible degree of improvement in a single update. Now that the levels are fixed up, you can use a low pass filter to remove the excessive highs in your track, and from there raise the levels using a limiter or compressor a little in order to get the volume up to solid levels without as much clipping (just a little, though! Too much even with some limiting and it'll sound crowded and nasty). Just some more advice to get as much production expertise out of this track as possible - with the clean sound you have now, you're close to getting a nice, loud track without the production problems associated with loudness.

Join in the fun, Anorax, it's a good source. I haven't done something for the shear pleasure in some time, so I'll give you something for this. Just got my computer fixed up, it's been four months since I've done a mix, so time to get my feet wet again with this.

... I didn't know about that, either.

Wow, that comes in hot. Be aware of your levels on this one - there's clipping and compression issues everywhere. Turn your volumes down, balance your levels so there isn't any clipping and check your clip from there. I'm not sure if you mind the mechanical nature of the track, but most people would love to hear some humanization of the instruments on this. Big issues first, though, fix the clipping, as that's the most potent issue, at the moment. It's a pretty straight remake of the boss 2 theme from Chrono Trigger - for what it is, it's certainly accurate. Nearly sounds the exact same, in fact, so if that's what you were going for then you nailed it. Get to cleaning up that production, though. Hope that helps!

Well, it's not too bad for an early remix. Know this, though, the road to producing amazing sounding music is a long, arduous one, so let me give it some lovely constructive criticism that may significantly improve your sound (outside of the obvious suggestion of using better samples, or performing live - FLayer is nearly a sin, 'round these parts). Arrangement-wise, it's both very conservative and not sticking to the source enough. Weird that it's possible, I know, but on the one hand you hold true to the structure, yet on the other I notice many cool details in the source that are not present in this version, and this track is worse for it. At 0:03, for example, the bass climbs with the melody, where in the source the bass actually drops in half-step against the melody. It's your track, and it's always up to you what to keep and what to change, but in this case the change makes the track sound boring in comparison to the original, which because of that small detail sounded very interesting. There's a lot of detail like this that's simply missing in this that made the original so damn interesting - take a look at that source again and really take an analytic ear to it and listen to it critically - you might find a whole lot that you want to incorporate. Aside from the need of better samples, you can make better use of the drums by balancing it to the point where that bass is forward enough in the mix to act as a foundation for the song. Listen to other rock/metal tracks on this site for examples - listen to where the drums sit in those mixes, and do your best to give your drums a similar sound. In time you'll find a balance that sounds right to you, but in imitating other's sounds you'll learn a great deal about how to balance drums and instruments in a song so that it sounds balanced. Moving on to the soundscape, moments like 0:25 are moments that one should avoid - it's very hollow. Even if it's just a pad, if there is music in that space of time, it shouldn't feel like it's completely empty save for an instrument or two. Obviously too much is a bad thing, as well, but listen to other songs posted on the site for some examples of soundscapes that sound consistently full, as you might learn a few good tricks for keeping the soundscape just right. I'm always happy to hear people starting off in music, and this is a good, healthy start to your music-making. I'm a little harsh in this crit, but I do want you to see where you should be shooting for, so don't worry too much about it. I hope this helps you out, and good luck with the mix!

Wow, does this ever have a 90's electronic feel to it - I dig the additions to the sound that you have going, here. You really did rip those sounds straight out of the game, didn't you? It gives it a very cool sound. Of course, it's about as conservative as it gets, but it does sound a few steps above the original. The production on this is a little sloppy, though - it sounds like there's too much reliance on limiting the master track to get rid of clipping, so it sounds pretty muddy throughout. Be sure to take off the limiting/compressors and get the levels so they don't clip, then raise the volume a little as needed with the limiters. I also am hearing a lot of excess highs in this. This track would be served well with a low pass that got rid of all that excess high noise that muddies the track further. Otherwise, I really like how you took the sounds out of the original music - you have any link to the instruments? I'm sure at least a few people could put them to good use on here, if it was offered.

Nice beat to this one, man - got me bouncing right away. I'm afraid that Cash and Timeaus both are right on the bass of the drums, as it sounds poor when there's so much compression on it. When the little melodic bits come in, they don't work, the way they are since they seem both out of tune with the background instruments that you incorporated, and the timing of the theme is off. 1:04 is an example of this theme, but the issues are the same whenever it comes in. Otherwise, nice and clean, and it's a clever interpretation. Nice work, and I hope whatever advice I can give helps.

MOD REVIEW Haa, Smithy - very good choice of source, sir! I anticipate much sexiness from this track. Looks like you didn't disappoint on this, either - nice choice of instruments, and great guitar work throughout. It's really a great balance throughout, too, save for the melodic instrument at 0:35. Considering it's carrying the theme, it would be nice if that was balanced a touch more in the front of the mix than it is now, whenever it comes into the track. The arrangement is really great and clever, so no comments on that. Production, very tight. Gotta thank Timeaus for his insight on the track throughout, as it seems to have helped you out along the way. I believe it'll pass as it stands, even with the minor nitpick that I made. Nice work, and I'll see you on the front page!

Oh wow, this has some atmosphere to it. Love the feel that I'm getting from this. Makes the hairs stand on my neck, I love it. There are some volume issues that I have when you introduce the theme in the beginning of the track (0:56). That melody just comes out of nowhere with the volume. When everything else comes in the level makes sense, so perhaps think about bringing it in at a lower level and gradually getting to it's final level when the other instruments get there. When things really get moving (~2:20), there is a lot going on, which is cool. Unfortunately, the soundscape gets pretty cluttered, and it ends up sounding like a mess. Consider either dropping an instrument or two out, or just mixing it so that an instrument or two become the focus of the portions of the music where everything seems to be there. Otherwise, it just sounds like music soup, and no one really wants that. The Tubular Bells (that's what they're called, Nightlasher ) used at the end have too much of their reverb overlap, so it becomes a real mess at the end, there (particularly at the 3:45 area - the bells play too fast for that kind of reverb). Clean that up, since the resulting sound is uncomfortably piercing, as it is. Otherwise, it sounds really cool. I really loved the atmosphere of it, and the arrangement was very well crafted. Nice work!

Well, since you've submit it already, a MOD REVIEW won't do you much good, but I'll give you one anyway so perhaps you can fix the track up and be ready for the feedback you'll get when you get this from the J's. Overall, this actually isn't bad at all. It's not perfect, and it has it's rough patches, though, so I don't think it'll make it as it stands. No worries - I'll give you a nice overview of what's likely to be said, so you can get something in to them that will pass as soon as you can. The first and most noticeable thing about this arrangement is the volume level. If a song doesn't match the volume level of the rest of the tracks on a site then it doesn't sound good when it comes on a music player with the other music from the site. You'll need to figure out a way to raise the levels across the board on your instruments without causing too much clipping in the process (that's the trick, isn't it?). At 1:47, that melody just jumps out at you. Oddly enough, that's probably the right level to be at, but you need to raise everything else to that level so it doesn't just jump out like that. The piano part at 2:04, while cool, does seem to drag on after the first few iterations. If you want to keep it in there for that long for the sake of structure, do be sure to give it that piano line some more variation. It's cool, but it gets annoying after the third or forth repetition. These are... actually minor complaints, and they even might be easily fixed. You'll likely get a NO - RESUB from the Judges because of it, but at least you'll know what to expect. I had a lot of fun listening to this, though, and it's really quite good as it is. I hope this helps you out some, man, and I do hope when you resub that I'll see it on the front page someday.

Ayla's theme was pretty damn awesome. That and Lucca's theme, why no luv, remixers? D: Ooo, a dance remix, it does sound pretty pumpin' overall (though I can't say much about the production quality - I'm listening on headphones, atm). You have some pretty funky harmony things going on in this track, though, and they come up often (1:16 and 1:27 are good examples of this) - consider thinking of better ways to mesh the sounds. If it helps, the scale for this song is generally Dorian - putting in the raised 7th degree makes it sound weird against the harmonies of the song. Just my two cents - I hope it helps.

MOD REVIEW Ooo, this is one of my favorite sources from that soundtrack - too bad the source suffers from being so damn short and repetitive. It makes it a tricky one to work with (though Zircon and Tyler Heath did a pretty damn good run of it about a decade ago). Let's see where you took it this time around. Alright, I see how you're approaching the harmonies on this. Very nice blending of those harmonies - they actually create some really cool vertical sounds. The production is relatively good in this track too (save for the moment when everything comes in halfway through - the track clips in that section). The melody could use some better interpretation. At the moment, it's repeated verbatim over the harmony in a rather repetitive manner above the cool harmonic stuff below. The last third has some neat things going on with the melody (sounds a lot like Unreal, actually), but that gets old after the first or second iteration, unfortunately. The drums, as mentioned earlier, really drag this song down. It's not the quality that's the problem, per se - it's just the plodding path that they take in a song like this. The atmospheric setup doesn't fit the drum style that you have going here. It's like you have drums for the sake of having drums; it would be better to not have any at all (and even better to have drums that fit the style and pace of the arrangement). Be careful with the melodic instruments in this track - they are often the source of clipping that come up in this track. Take a look at them and see if you can balance them better in the mix, since they stand too much in the foreground, as well. Getting the melodies balanced in the mix could kill two birds with one stone. The biggest issue with this track, though, is the lack of direction or form throughout. It builds up to the point halfway in the track, then just doesn't feel like you knew where to take the track afterword. This give the track a meandering feel that just doesn't sound engaging. If you want to have sections that sound like different sections, you'll need to change how the harmonies are arranged, and creatively make a 'new' section using motives from the theme. I mentioned that this source is tricky - this is particularly the reason why it's tricky. If you want this one on OCR, fix the drums and melody issues, for sure, but also consider balancing the arrangement better, making a build-up no more than a quarter of the piece, and figure out a way to make a development section after the theme is presented that gives the form some substance. Best of luck, and nice choice for a source

I don't make New Years resolutions... ever, but I want to get my ass working on here again, so here it goes. I'm going to mod-review (or just review, if it comes down to it) five WIP tracks a week, and I'll list them somewhere to make damn sure that I've done it. If the WIP forum got 260 reviews from at least one workshop mod next year (and probably more - I'm not the only one here ) then I feel that forum will improve significantly. *Deep breaths* ALRIGHT, let's do this!

Darkesword, you have a happy birthday, man!

I'm sure she'll be a mighty fine baby, DjP. Congratulations on your newest baby-pretzel, Dave!

Woo, nice work, Chimpazilla and Flexstyle on the Judge positions! May we see moar awesome music come through here because of your hard working-ness! Also, hey there XPRTNovice - let's make the Workshop move like never before... in all seriousness, I promise to schedule more of my time toward that over the next year than I have of late, myself, so hopefully it'll move as it's supposed to. Congratulations all around - let's bring OCR into 2014 with a bang!

Birthday! Happiness! OCR! YAAAAAAY! Happy birthday, you sexy site, you.

Happy birthday, you talented bastard you.

This is gorgeous.

Hey, you sexy rapper you, happy birthday!