theshaggyfreak

Thanks for the comment! I like to try and break the mold a bit when I do competitions like this. I also like to go a bit out of my comfort zone. I might possible revisit this one later on and smooth things out. There are definitely some spots that are a bit jarring. I probably did concentrate more on the sound design than the composition itself. It was about the best I could do with only a couple of afternoons available to work on it. I'm always amazed at what others are able to accomplish. It really does inspire me to become a better composer.

Ooooo! I've been wanting Sticker Star! But I have no idea on a guess.

Oh, another thing that helped me quite a bit with vocal processing is Nectar Elements. I was able to pick it up for free at some point at http://www.xlnaudio.com/ . I'm not sure if that offer is still available but I'd say go and see. I found it pretty easy to get that broadcast quality sound with it.

I do some minor VA work and this is the equipment I use in my setup. Rode NT2000 - Rode makes some great mics for the price. If the NT2000 is too expensive for you, check out the NT1A. One great thing about Rode is that they have a 10 year warranty on their mics. ART Voice Channel - This is a tube channel strip in a 2 space rack unit. One nice thing about it is that it has a ton of ways you can connect it to other equipment and it even includes a USB interface. I have it connected to my main interface via lightpipe, though, which is a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. For $400, you get a lot out of the Voice Channel. If this is out of your budget, consider one of the Focusrite interfaces. Their preamps are generally very quiet and you can get an interfaces for as low as $100. Clearsonic Sorbers - While I have a vocal booth built into a closet in my studio, I also have a couple of these Sorbers. They come in various sizes and they're really easy to move around or store out of the way. If you don't have room for something like this, consider getting one of the Reflexion filters. These are the things I purchased when I started doing some VA work and it work will for my purposes until (if ever) the time comes where I'm doing more of this sort of thing. If you're thinking of putting together a package like this, talk to a rep at Sweetwater. They'll often give you a deal if you call and talk to them about putting something like this together. Their store credit card also has a lot of offers where you can get 12 months no interest. I don't work for them or anything but I've purchased a number of things from them in the past years.

1 - Garpocalypse 2 - Nutritious 3 - Cyril the Wolf

I know mine is on the repetitive side (and short). Since I didn't have a lot of time to work on it, I just kind of went for a short mood jam. I would rather have something to post than nothing at all.

Well, my song for this round has been submitted. I wish I had more time to work on it but life got in the way of putting more effort into it than I could have. I really enjoyed what team alpha put forth! Let's see what our bravo team does.

My master chain tends to be Spectro Spectral Editor / Melda MEqualizer / Melda MCompressor / Melda MLimiter. I do all of this in Wavelab Elements since I feel that I have more precise control with editing. While I try to get everything EQed properly in my final mix, there's usually some minor change that I like to make during the mastering process. Between Specro and MEqualizer, I have a pretty good level of control over those things. MComp is a really nice all around compressor that also has a good level of control. I mostly have the Mlimiter at the end of the chain to keep out any small peaks that might happen. I try to be very careful with compression so that things are louder without killing dynamics. This isn't too difficult of a job if I do my part at creating sonic space for each instrument in the song. Spectro is relatively cheap at $25 or $50 depending on the license you need. The Melda stuff is part of their Free Effects bundle which has a premium side to it. If you pay for the upgrade to the package, you get some extra functionality.

1. Cosmic Sounds 2. Hylian Lemon 3. Gario

This can be a very in depth subject and a lot of people have various opinions how how this sort of thing is done or done well. I always tend to point people to Mastering Audio by Bob Katz ( http://goo.gl/6t3TQ5 ). There really is a lot to be learned in this book and I consider it essential reading for anyone who is interested in making their stuff sound better. For me, it came down to the fact that I used to mix too loud. Doing so goes give you enough headroom to work with when it comes time for mastering. So, I tend to mix no hotter than -8db to -6db. Even with that being the case, I try to mix more with my ears than what I'm seeing visually on the screen. Prior to doing so, I had a lot of the same problems that you're currently encountering. I wish I could give more precise instructions on this sort of thing but I always find it difficult to get too deep into specifics on the subject. If you haven't read Mastering Audio, I highly suggest checking it out. As far as plugins I use, I mostly stick with Melda Productions stuff these days. Their plugins are quite nice and they're not too expensive.

Gotcha. Let me know by Monday if you want it otherwise I will be putting it on Craigslist.

I just finished installing a fresh copy of Yosemite on the iMac. If no one claims either of these machines by Monday, I'll be throwing them on Craigslist.

My go to machine for chip stuff is a Commodore 64 with a MSSIAH cartridge. While I have a couple VST that I can use to emulate this sort of thing, it's definitely a fun challenge using the C64 itself.

No worries, man. ....After doing a bit more digging, I guess I really am under selling the iMac by a lot. So, I am going to raise the price on it. One think I did forget to mention, though, is that it's just the iMac only. No mouse or keyboard.

I'm setting it lower for friends and such. If I don't get a taker, the price will certainly go up when I post it on craigslist.

Sony Vaio Laptop Quad i3 / 4GB of RAM / 500GB HD This machine works just fine. It currently has Ubuntu on it but it came with a Windows 7 Home key. Oh, it is pink. Asking $175 24in iMac / early 2009 model 2.93 ghz core 2 duo / 8GB of RAM / GeForce GT130 512mb / 640GB HD Right now it's running Yosemite without any problems. The CPU fan does get noisy from time to time but it hasn't caused any real issues for me. By the way, this is for only the iMac itself. A mouse or keyboard is NOT included. Asking $275 We're in the process of downsizing how many computers we have in the house and will be looking to part with these two in a couple of week or so. I'm just putting the word out there for those who might want to voice an interest early on. Shipping the laptop doesn't pose much of a problem but I'd rather sell the iMac to someone local since it'd be a bit awkward to package it since I no longer have the original box. If you're coming to MAG, I could bring them with me as well.

It's no fun not getting anything and it does kind of sour the spirit of giving even if the lost package is completely unintentional. So, I just wanted to step up and say thanks for being an awesome SS, Brandon. That's why I sent the gift.

The Orkester sound bank isn't terrible but it's very hard to work with if you want a good sound (lots and lots of control data lanes). I've heard several people write some very nice things with it but you have to limit yourself somewhat. Miroslav is decent but it's also quite old. There are a few other small libraries out there but you're not going to find anything that will bring you up to the level of, for instance, VSL. As much as I'm HUGE fan of Reason, I use Logic with VSL for all my orchestral stuff. I used to use Reaper but really wanted a DAW with integrated notation tools.

Voted up here. I still need to upgrade to version 2 at some point.

Thanks! Got mine up and in use! I'm looking forward to the fun and games!

I'll add myself into the hat at the 11th hour. Sing me up!

History of the World on DVD, Christmas on Sesame Street on DVD, a tambourine, a cabasa, the new Jim Henson Biography, a soldering kit, and some odds and ends.

With the new release of Reason 8.1, users can now share stuff between Take/Figure and Reason. I think this could definitely be a fun thing for collaboration and it certainly makes better use of Take and Figure as production apps. I've uploaded a couple of little loops to their new website at http://discover.propellerheads.se/ to see what folks might do with them. http://phead.mu/s/9GzMUcNu http://phead.mu/s/4iAjpyY4

Interface wise, I'd go with something Focusrite. They definitely have something your price range. Something like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 would certainly work for you. Focusrite tends to have a really good track record on audio interfaces.

Mine went out yesterday. So, it should be arriving at its destination in a day or two.