Drakken

I just finished working on a solo piano piece, and it sounds great on my regular monitors. However, when played back on my iPad or listening with earbuds or lower-end speakers, there's a decent amount of crackle going on. When listening through a nice set of Sennheiser headphones, there's no crackle, but the high notes are harsh at loud volumes, and I end up having to lower it to a softer-than-desired listening level. Any tips on alleviating either the harshness of the high notes or the crackle when played through lower end speakers? Here's the song in question: http://soundcloud.com/drakken/josh-freund-gymnop-die-wet

Aaaaaaand.......... bought. Thanks for the notice!

Mmm, love love love this. Excellent playing and tone to the guitars, and I actually like the fact that it sticks close to the source tunes. Glad the judges didn't reject it for being "conservative", that would have been a real shame. I need to find more acoustic guitar arrangements...

Got super excited when I saw melody's name, and not surprisingly, the mix was wonderful. Absolutely love your style, Peter. Your sounds are heavenly.

The Meadow This is one of the few songs I composed with a clear visual image in mind. Picture this: At the title screen of a survival horror / adventure / suspense game, a background video plays. We see a peaceful-looking meadow, and grasses and flowers being blown by a gentle breeze. The camera follows a butterfly as it flits around. All looks calm. But wait... there's more here. Something isn't quite right. There's a tension in the air. Suddenly a darkness seems to permeate everything. The butterfly reaches the edge of a treeline, beyond which lies a darker area. Something happened here in the past... something very bad. And it may not be over... (That's my really badly written attempt at describing what I visualize when I listen to this piece.)

Not really a remix as much as a remake that started when I was messing around with Shreddage X. Added a little atmospheric intro, decided to actually complete the song, and here you go: http://soundcloud.com/drakken/phobos-doom-e1m1-remake

Would it be possible for me to sign up for this as a novice? I love the idea of collabing with a more seasoned remixer and getting some guidance from them, but I do have one accepted remix. I still feel like a novice, though.

I find that a number of my songs (especially ones with piano) - which sound fine when played on KRK Rokit 6s or a decent set of Sennheiser headphones - cause static/crackling/popping noises on cheap systems, particularly when the volume is turned up. I'm talking laptop speakers, earbuds, cheap Logitech speakers, etc. None of the songs are clipping. I'm thinking it might be because the cheaper systems emphasize the highs, and when they do that with my songs there's too much and they can't handle them? Another problem I've run into with a couple songs is near total loss of bass when played back through laptop speakers. I'm thinking EQing might be the answer to these issues, but my concern then would be that EQing things so that the songs sound better on laptops/earbuds would hurt the mixes on high end equipment. So basically, my question is first, what causes the crackling? And second, how do you handle making sure your songs translate well on cheap speakers without compromising overall mix quality?

http://8dio.com/ 8dio is having a 25% off everything sale through the end of today, which is a pretty good deal considering their stuff goes up to $500. They make some fantastic virtual instruments; I've been eyeing a bunch of them for awhile now. Picked up their Songwriting Guitar 2.0 for $75 yesterday - it's basically a virtual rhythm guitar (acoustic & electric) that lets you play four of the most commonly used rhythms with any major/minor chord, plus it's got tons of effects. Looks like it'll be great for writing more typical "band" songs. Also really, really want their 1928 Steinway Piano (absolutely beautiful sound), but I'm holding off on spending the money.

Finally posted a new song! http://soundcloud.com/drakken/feelin-it It's a short funky/jazzy tune I composed about five months ago for an online contest where the songs had to be a minute long and have a "super groovy bass line." It's my first attempt at something in this style. Not sure if I want to try to extend it in the future or just leave it as is. Feedback is appreciated!

I'd like to see this too. I use Soundcloud a lot now, and will certainly be using SC links when I post original works or WIPs in the future.

Were you guys gonna submit this? I don't see it on the To Be Judged queue.

Woo! Just got home and purchased. Unfortunately I won't have time to listen through the album tonight, but I'll be burning it to have in the car tomorrow. Really excited to listen to this. Cory, I don't know if this is sequenced as a complete album or more of a collection of tracks, but what would you recommend as the cutoff point between discs? Just from looking at the tracklist, I'm guessing Outset Island would be a good place to end the first disc, with Majora #1 beginning the second disc.

http://soundcloud.com/drakken/somber-warmth This is an emotional keys piece I composed back in 2010. It was originally done using the Sine Keys patch in FL Studio's Directwave. While I love that sound, I had some trouble getting it clear/loud enough. I recently redid it with a mix of FM and Suitcase electric pianos in Pro Tools, and I think it came out pretty well. I'll likely work on the sine keys version again soon, though, as that's my real vision for this song. It's deeper sounding, and you really FEEL the notes.

Love the feel you gave it. Nice work!

I've started to post more stuff to my Soundcloud recently. This is the first song I made after I got Evolve Mutations 2 (a Kontakt library made by Native Instruments and meant for "cinematic sound design") back in August of last year. http://soundcloud.com/drakken/evolve-mutations-2 Everything you hear comes from EM2. Dunno if anyone else here has it, but it's a LOT of fun to play around with. I also posted a short, funky electronic track last week.

Seriously adoring what I'm hearing from the EP. Can't wait to listen to the full thing!

Here's a short, funky electronic track called Big Ideas. Most of it (with the exception of the beginning) was written for an entry into a company's "audio identity" contest. I'll probably expand on it in the future and make it into a fuller song. http://soundcloud.com/drakken/big-ideas My job (working for an accountant) kept me busy the past couple months, so I haven't done much in the way of music lately. Nice to finally be composing again!

No need to take it down; I'm honored! You mean the descending three chord pad part that plays during the intro and verse? I tried panning it wide, but preferred it in the center like this. I'm already working with someone on the guitar part, but thanks for offering.

Uh. Wow. Not much I can say other than this is truly epic (and I hate to use that word), and I really enjoyed listening to it (on my 2nd playthrough now). I love long prog rock stuff, so this is right up my alley. Btw add another one for "I didn't notice any language." EDIT: I think it's time I actually listen through the original Dancing Mad.

I recently joined Soundcloud and decided to start uploading some of my original works written with video games in mind. Here's one of my favorites: http://soundcloud.com/drakken/space-shooter-2012 It's a high energy song I wrote for an imaginary space shooter while I was at college back in 2010. It's got a real oldschool synth feel to it. I originally composed it in FL Studio, but recently revamped it in Pro Tools, hence the 2012. The second loop is an experiment of sorts taking the same song but using (fake) electric guitars. Comments welcome!

Thanks for the kind words! Glad people are enjoying it.

Happy birthday, CHz! Hope you had a great one.

So bought. I've only gotten through three or four albums from the last bundle, haha. A lot of listening to do.