theshaggyfreak

I'm with Neblix. I personally stay away from the 'for personal or educational use only' stuff. While I don't scoff at people who do otherwise, I find it personally important to be above the board.

I typically use a couple of pencil mics. I place one towards the keyboard in the middle of the upper strings and one towards the back end in the middle of the bass strings. You can change the distance they're apart to tweak the stereo separation how you want it. I usually put the mics about 8-12 inches away from the strings. If the piano is in a decent room, you can stick a large diaphragm condenser a bit away from the piano for some ambient sound. I find this to be the simplest setup.

NI usually has a big sale about every 6 months. So, you just have to keep an eye on their website.

It's kind of expensive for small developers to do it since they have to shell out a good deal of cash to Native Instruments to do this. That's why you don't see it very often. They figure that most composers have already purchased Kontakt already since it's kind of an industry standard.

I've been using the Sennheiser HD280's for a while now and they've worked out rather well for me.

This one is surprisingly useful.

Certain songs remind me of some of the material from Ghost in the Shell: SAC. I dig it!

I had a good listen today and it's amazing! Jill should be right proud of herself!

Yeah, I don't think I'm going to be able to get mine in. I've been way too busy with day to day stuff as well as a play that I'm in the middle of rehearsals for. My world is kind of going to be crazy until May. Sorry, bro!

It seems that all you need is an account on xlnaudio.com. All I did was set up an account and I got a free copy of Nectar Elements.

Sure. Why not. I'll give it a stab.

For fairly cheap, you can pick up these vibe samples. While I have other stuff, I really do like these ones for certain things. It's only $19 and they're for Kontakt or Ableton Live. http://puremagnetik.com/post/74715466420/malletpak-vibraphone-ableton-live-pack-kontakt-logic-sam

Ahh, I missed that part. I do have an iLok. So, it never worried me.

Just a little side note...you do need an iLok.

If you're not aware of Diego Stocco and his work, he's probably one of the most innovative sound designers of our time. In some ways, I think here's reinvented thinking outside of the box when it comes to audio. Last month he released the first video in his Feed Forward Sounds series is on rhythmic processing and I grabbed it. It's definitely worth looking into if you want to be inspired. The 2nd video was just released today and it concentrates on using custom impulse responses to diversify your sound. Both of these videos have me looking at some of my tools in a different way and I highly suggest looking into buying them if you want to try something new. http://www.diegostocco.com/introducing-feedforward-sounds-series/

Here's some notes after my votes: TheGitarooHero - Very solid. This is probably one of the best produced/engineered remixes I’ve heard in this compo. Composition is really solid too. SeriesOfTuberz McGee - The vocals just didn’t seem to really work with this song. The faster spoken vocals felt out of place for me. The harmonized ones didn’t seem to be timed very well with the music. The music itself was fine, though. Some of it was hard to hear under the vocals. Flextone - I would have cut a bit more of the low end out of the vocals. They got a little bit lost in the mix for me. Nice fast groove, though, and lovely guitar work. The vocals near the end had a much better sound! Protogenic Hero - Solid tune. The drums near the middle seemed to overshadow the lead line for me. I would have liked the drums a bit farther back there or maybe panned a little more. Sometimes the drums felt like that had too much bite.

Here's some notes for this week... ladyWildfire - Nice vibe! I really don’t have anything majorly negative on this one. Maybe the guitar was a bit forward in some places but that’s really it. Nice jorb! Amphlabulous - Another one with a nice vibe! There’s nothing over the top. Just a straight forward good tune. I like it! SuperiorX - Some funkiness going on here. A bit of the P-funk thing maybe? Vocals are decent but I think I’d have preferred something a bit more raw. Hrm. Maybe it’s got more of an 80s pop thing. Still, it’s quite nice.

Focusrite makes good stuff. I have a Saffire Pro 40 and haven't had any major issues with it. MXL makes some decent low budget stuff. There are plenty of other companies out there, though. Search the forums, there are several topics on this sort of thing.

Awesome! I'll definitely jump into that. I hope to be a part of the OCR Records family someday.

Here's a like for that one: http://downloads.izotope.com/guides/iZotopeMasteringGuide_MasteringWithOzone.pdf

It also helps to find a trainer that is compatible with you. It's a bit like being in a relationship. Luckily for me, my wife's trainer is a good guy and was available to work with me. Despite being uncoordinated and flabby, he's confident that he'll be able to help me reach my goals. He's able to motivate me without any negativity what so ever. Time will tell the story, though.

I've started seeing a personal trainer recently and he's started working with me on to develop a stronger and more balanced body. I have a long way to go but it's nice to have someone to answer to other than myself when it comes to exercise.

I have one of mine finished up. The other could use some work still.

Here's my notes from my listen... Tuberz McFly - Cool vocals! A bit of a timing issue at 1:08 or at least it felt like there was. The guitar part around 3:20ish seemed a bit too forward in the mix for my taste. Nice job! Gargapocalypse - The opening reminds me of Machinae Supremacy. Nice! Good vocals! The growly vocals actually (mostly) work! Sans the growling, this reminds me a lot of Machinae Supremacy and that hits me right in the heart. TheGitarooHero - Nifty tune. Has a great vibe. Quite solid. I don’t really have any negative thoughts here. therexinfx - Cymbals rolls had a bit too much sizzle and could be tamed. I think some of the drum beats could have been pulled back a few samples to give it a better feel. Love the funk! Reflexstyle - The wubwub was a bit over the top for my taste but I’m one of those people who really can’t get into dub step. So, I’m a bit biased. I personally would chill a bit on the pumping but it wasn’t too bad for my taste. Great production! Very solid! I guess a lot of my negative notes were mostly a matter of taste, eh? I still love you, man. <3 urweeklywater - Nice piano piece! I really love hearing this sort of stuff and is right up my alley. While it was simple and minimal, it just works. Phonemic Hero - Nice piano intro! It sets a nice mood. It almost reminded me a bit of something from Playstation era of music. Good stuff! ArceKing - I think the bass could using a bit of taming in the intro the the filter fade.

I've been pondering extending VGM and combining it with other things. A video game musical or radio play would be awesome. I like the idea of celebrating it by creating something new.