hewhoisiam

AW! No reviews yet? Let me see what I can do with this. 1) MOAR CRACKLE! At the start. I have this all or nothing concept on something like that, the crackling static is there, but not prominent enough for me. 2) The sound clip is kinda nice, 'hey vega' maybe? Anyways I only hear the one. For me not knowing the source, it feels kinda open and exposed here. Maybe put it at that low introduction or someplace else. I like some of like megaman sounds I hear in mixes; if you were going to mix in like goofy sound clips or sound effects or something. I dunno, just kinda feels off where it is. 3) The drum erm, rolls I think they are, at the speed up around the 1 minute mark kinda grind on me, I just don't like the sound. That being said, I'm not sure how to tell you to get a good buzzed roll sound. Some neat drum fills you can do that might sound good there is something like 16th triplets, or 16th triplet bounces. Mostly snare, but a fill like that would likley start with an emphisis on the hi hat, and go to the drums. If it were a beat sequenced in 12 steps per beat, it would look like 1,4,7,8,9,10,11,12. where the last 6 hits a drummer would play double bounced on snare Ll Rr Ll. (on a roll like that, the leading note is slightly louder) Love the hat sound though. 4) I want the clapper part at 2 mins a little bit louder or more prominant for it's big solo moment:-P good stuff. I can't remember the instrument name, but it's actually a 2 pitch clapper if this is what I'm thinking of. I'd pan it a little bit more maybe? 5) More crackle at the end starting sooner. This may be part of a headphone issue for you too or w/e. Best of luck with that. I started on crappy ears and got good ones; I'd hate to have to go back8O I usually don't comment on the good, but the tempo transitions in this are like GOLD. Love it. That's it for now -H

Thanks, harmony is still something I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around. Time to spend at least a day reading up on the subject. I'm not entirely sure what to do about sub par samples, the trombone and trumpet have reverb on them and tube leveler, The strings just have the reverb; so I wonder if it's something about the leveler... I had changing the chords suggested to me, but I've been lazy the past few days and haven't done much with this I'll edit the ID3whateveritis tags on the mp3s I guess. The crap I gotta do for some people...

I always feeds back, usually in frighteningly long postses.

Okay, got some feedback on IRC. Newer version here: http://www.mediafire.com/?mwyxikkimmj Changed strings slightly, at least in the area of attack, not much with overall articulation yet. I'm only half sure of what I want to do, mostly an attack change. Various volume automation added to help with dynamics. Little tweaks and stuff. Still could use feedback here too:tomatoface:

Good stuff, good stuff! The panning is a bit extreme in places. You might add some sends to the parts that are too far panned, which will keep the panning effect to that side, but give another input from a different location. (If I understood the concept correctly) So like 40%L panned instrument gets a send that's 20% right, it's coming from both places, so to speak. I haven't really played with the concept too much. I'd say the big band swing part that you have now is a little bit cluttered. I hear lots and lots of full sounding chords, but not a lot of individual voices, which can work. I'd still say maybe vary the parts so that they're not all playing the same melody as long (duration wise) When the big band first comes in at 2:40, it's fine, but then some of the instruments might want to drop back into a supporting roll. A thing that might really help this is some more dynamics here. Building up as the big band section goes along every few measures. Huge fantastic intro at 2:40, quieter at 2:43 after the introduction is established, and a crescendo from 2:43 to the next sustained note, etc. Also, your jazz drums sound like they're being played by a rock drummer. All the notes are right, but the emphasis is too far on the beat for my taste. A good jazz drummer is all about off beats especially on the ride cym and the hats to really nail down that swing emphasis. Also kicks with the bass drum often end up on off beats, while the main bass hits are 4 on the floor very quietly. In jazz/big band, the drums play a huge part in the dynamics in piece. If I were playing that build up at 2:40, I'd do the tried and true accented triplets/swung 8ths on snare+low tom+bass crescendo with a huge cymbal hit when the big band enters. The build up now enters with a strange hit with sort of stray ride cymbal hit that I'm not real fond of. This upbeat motif is not drum exclusive; it's generally true of the entire piece. Jazz has got much more of an upbeat feeling to it. This feels very much like swung downbeat rock; even though the notes are all correct, the emphasis should be on the part that swings. It's not really an issue at the beginning, only when the swing section starts. I actually got to play Groovin' Hard in Jazz band my senior year. Great song in general, but you can really see what I mean about the upbeats. Some of the low sustained notes on the background instruments in the middle/beginning get old to me. I could see some slight dynamic changes in your background parts there really helping. Length isn't bad, but I want to hear more big band! Selfish request, but on a serious note, I don't really feel like there's enough to really balance out that long introduction section. Maybe another 30 seconds? pweese? Hope this helps -H

I'll give this a critical listen in a bit

UPDATED: April 5, 2009 So, I'm trying to catch up on some theory, and other fun stuff I don't know much about. But I threw this together because (at the time) I didn't see many crisis core mixes around. That, and I ran into one techno type mix of this song when I thought to myself: "This should swing..." Notes on March 31 work: I'm hoping this is close to what Gario was talking about. But I had some interesting junk happen. This plays in Em triads i, VI, III, VII. I changed part to EM, but the diminished vii sounded wrong, so It's a minor 7, which gives A# I, vi, iii, vii. It really puts it more in B there then E. Anyways, big headache figuring that out. I'm much better at something I can hit with a stick... Newest: http://www.mediafire.com/?gliywfjmznk 1) Changed trumpet solo and major chords around. Kept having to remind myself 'don't think in flats, stop thinking in flats' I tried to make things more subtle around the key/chord change. 2) Boosted piano volume and dynamics, as well as did various little things with volume. 3) Bumped my own thread. Again. No replies in a week. Source link: Old versions: http://www.mediafire.com/?j1djyzdjmwy http://www.mediafire.com/?mwyxikkimmj http://www.mediafire.com/?yegwjjtn1ei All criticisms and suggestions appreciated.

I'm working on this, It's not quite done yet. This is Price of Freedom. http://www.mediafire.com/?yegwjjtn1ei

I'd say really nail that intro before your leading instrument comes in. Play with very low volumes early on, or other effects. You have like 1 measure of the guitar rhythm before the synth enters. Are you still planing this to have that sort of minimalist feeling? The 3/4 is very 3/4, which I like. The end is a neat idea, but you maybe overdid the slowdown. I like a noticable slow, but it gets to a point where it's like crawling and dying. Other then maybe the last 2 or 3 notes, I don't think anything should really ever feel like it's dying. The whole thing may be a touch on the short side. Consider using something similar to the first introduction idea after the second major idea (back in 3/4) -H

I like the feel of what you have now. As far at theory goes, you've all left me behind. But for the sake of argument, I love major scales. (I learned all my scales in major, it's all I know) When your main melody synth comes in at 7 seconds, it sounds good. But the patern repeats too many times to be what the emphasis is on. It either needs more variation, or pushed into the background more. The synth hear does not really sound like a background sound, so my vote is for just enough variation to keep it fresh. At least until the fun bit starts at 39 seconds. I want more boom in your kick. But that's nothing new for me, I always want more boom in the kick. But towards the end is where I really want that boom boom. at 1:44. BOOM BOOM BOOM, not tap tap tap Some variation in the kick would be good too. It's pretty static as is. The triplets in the percussion and subtractive synth are great. I'd like to see more of them in the transitions to give a bit of a 'hold on, okay go' feeling. The ending just sort of dies off. I like the synth pitch drop down thing okay if that's what you want. The bass drums feel out of place here at the end, also it feels anti climactic. My first thought is to write a bar or two just before that drop down using a mostly triplet feel and really draw out an idea to that it feels longer, thus slower, then into the fade away. hope this helps -H

eh, hol on hol on. I'l tak a look at ett.

Overall, I like it. There are a few things here and there I'll try to pick out. Repetition and dynamics. These two go hand in hand. I can really see some dynamics in certain parts changing things for the better. Not a lot, but in a few places where the thing is runny too long on the same idea for my taste. The tom and high parts at 1:40 drag on too long for me. Could be part of the genre of DnB also though. I'm usually not a huge fan of anything that repetitive. Some layered bass sounds couldn't hurt to help accent the important stuff; as well as something to break it down so it's not running away for the full 5 minutes. I'd say the same thing about the drum track in general. Lots of DnB that I see will throw in a 16th note here and there to keep things just a little bit different (esp in bass drums) That's about where this is at: down to the little things. While the general flow of the song isn't bad, it's not too spectacular. I don't really know what to say about that other than I find myself losing interest in this about the 3:30 mark. It gets loud and heavy fast. Then it stays there forever and ends. I'm not really a DnB connoisseur, but all of the stuff I listen to that is really made great imho, is because of awesome build ups and really off the wall beats. Like I said above, the little things (and usually the toughest ) Hope this helps -H

Source is always a good idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBdvzDeKnsg The first thing that jumps out at me is the beats at 0:58 all end up the same volume where they did jump around in the first part of the introduction. The volume changes and accents makes them just different enough to stay interesting, but those last few hits lose that feeling. At 1:08, you have a very harsh sounding synth playing the rigid 8th notes from the beginning, with a very pretty pad sustained sound. This is clashing to me, and needs some of the harshness toned down, which has a sort of double bonus when you bring the harsh sound back in and it seems new and fresh. I get bored with the thing around the 2:30 mark, it needs more variation to keep my interest at least till the part at 3:30 comes in and the change up happens. Too repedative, maybe with some dynamics work and some variation in the breaks and transitions you can pull this together. But right now it's too long. The track is suffering from having too many 'same-ie' breaks and transitions, but you can address that when you fix it up later on and have a better idea of direction, more variation will really help this. (same-ie breaks is kinda a weak critisism, but worth addressing) There is one sustained synth at 3:52 that is just out there on its own and it's killing me! You want something like that to be much more subtler, imho. I wrote a bit about some synth choices in one of these comments, consider a different synth alltogher for this and some of the work in this are. Too many graty/rough sounds. A word on drums, very mechanical. If you're wanting this to be a snare heavy type of song, you want to consider that velocities will change a lot to make it realistic, also you may want to add 2 or 3 snares total for effects like flams and rolls. Picture that a drummer will lead with their strongest hand, which won't make as much difference (if the drummer is good anyway) until you get into your faster notes and rudiments. A snare roll isn't really just fast notes, I'm not sure how to sequence it. But on a drum, an open roll is double bounced 16th notes usually. The stick bounce makes the first note louder than the second of a bounce, so Rr Ll Rr Ll so to speak. A closed roll is the buzz sound you hear. Broken down a very clean buzz is between 4 and 7 ish hits per hand depending on the tempo, still at 16th note speed. It's so fast you can't hear the individual hits, that's why all you get is a buzz sound. To program a buzzed roll true to the way it would be hit on a drum would be insane, you're buzz would be something like 32 steps per beat, all with dynamics, and I imagine that'd make any program have a heart attack. You'll just have to look into it if that's really the sound you want. Here's the example of it. Overall, I feel like the mix is missing some very low end BOOM BOOM bass things. I think that's a real strength in the original that I don't see here. Consider adding a low bass part playing some chords or somefing. I'm also feeling that some of the synth choices you use as leads (especally later on) might not be the best. Again I feel like that pretty pad sound sound clashes with that gritty sounds in places. Not all of your leads need to have that dirty subtractive sound. Just one or two will get the mood and sound across. You've got so much that it's muddying things up for me. The development is pretty close to the original as far as tempo and events, you'll want to do something to mix it up in there and make it your own. The development is there where you add instruments and ideas, but just nothing really taking center stage. Breaks and transitions are short, sometimes repedative, and sticking close to the source. Don't be afrade to break out and play with the parts in this you really like. It's not a bad starting point, but it's too close to the source right now. If you're looking for ideas, try going into half time somewhere in the middle and really nailing down something with that 'pretty' pad. It'll give people a break from static things and get you a new place to build up from. This could use some mastering work in EQ and panning, that'll help with the space issues and put some frequencies into that low bass range that I'm not hearing. (tho I think it should have another low part stacked with that subtractive bass sound imho) Give the snare some heavy reverb, that'll help with the mechanical sound. Dynamics too, this might not all be in the mastering, but in the actual writing. This is mostly one volume at the moment. The piece can really use some volume automation at the beginning and the breaks to make the parts really come to life. Hope this helps, I'll be watching this thread. -H

As far as getting the bass sound you want, you can try layering another drum over the top of this one with a different velocity, or use a combination of drum sounds that you like to get one good sound. That's what I do most often when I can't get the exact sound I want. Another thing is to draw the bass drum out of the kit into it's own track, then you can apply effects to just the bass drum without messing with the whole set. As far as the sound I'm trying to describe (prepare for a long paragraph to cover the one word of 'weak') I like the attack of the drum, very punchy. But the decay is too short and it's not really in the bass range that gives it a lot of punch. The first thing I'd try to do to get that sound is to add a bass drum sample with that the low sustained sound I want and put it in it's own track. Have it play over the top of what you've got and apply effects and EQ to make it match. (couldn't hurt lowering the frequency of what you've got, but I'd have to play with it to know for sure) Don't worry about attack on this added drum, the one you've got does that fine. If you're worried about a boomy sound, this should give you very precise controll of how much boom will put you in the goldylox zone. Hopefully, that'll do what you want. I know when I'm mastering stuff (don't laugh, I mean in theory not that I have stuff worth mastering at the moment) I look at the multiband compressor and can solo out parts to hear where my parts end up in terms of frequencies. Which is helpful if I want to go back and lower or raise parts by an octive. Hope that helps -H

Yeah, I actually thought about losing the momentum and energy feel as I was writing about a longer break in there. I have multiple versions of whatever it is that I'm working on at any given time, so I make changes that I think will work, then (usually) end up changing it back. It's one of those things that I'd have to hear:tomatoface: I know -nothing- about mastering so can't help ya there. Good luck! -H

I like it, but I'm going to pick nits. Because I pick nits. Then this is going in my folder of WIPs and failed entries that keeps making it into my playlist. 1) I selfishly want more boom in your kick. Personal preference. BOOM BOOM! 2) This feels unbalanced to higher sounds in certain places. I don't think it ever sounds bad, but it feels like it's missing middle frequency sounds. I think you have the sounds, but everything I hear them on is very short staccato-type sounding, or panning around. I guess the choir sounds are in the range, but they're very subtle. 1:18 I hear that choir really filling the gap, then at 1:38 when the melody comes in, it seems empty again. Of course, it may not be an issue, it's just something I notice... I may just be crazy too. 3) I don't know that the breaks and switch ups are dynamic enough or long enough. I see instruments come in and out, and I see neat change ups; but none of them particularly stand out. (2:06 comes the closest to what I'm thinking) In my mind for something this intense, it needs one good long break somewhere nearish the middle. At 4:26 you have something that sounds like what I picture in the middle, especally with the very last 3 or 4 seconds the very high teasing notes. Almost crawling to a stop, then back with the intensity. Hope this helps -H

First things first, if these are the length that you say they are; then it's the length that needs to be worked on first. I haven't downloaded and listened to them yet (downloading now) but I'd wager that they're either very repetitive, or have tons of intro and sustained pretty chord-ie stuff. If you want to keep the length for yourself or a full version so to speak, make multiple versions of the track. Just like writing for an english major; there are advantages to being able to write 10 pages on nothing, just like there are advantages to being able to write out what you mean in 3 sentences. Also, these 2 together are more than a half hour. Whenever I come to the WIP section and listen to a track. I may listen to it 5 or 6 times while I write up a critique. Asking someone to listen critically for more than a half hour is a bit of a crazy expectation. I'm lazy and don't prolly critique here as much as I should, but you won't have too many people willing to invest the time in a serious critique for that length of time. I'ma do you a favor this once and listen to these, cause I'm such a nice guy :tomatoface:I'm going to review these as one, becase the songs themselves don't really need much review, just the structure and ideas. Zelda Chrono I'm feeling the length is the major issue here. Remember if you're wanting to compose more than one song into a single one, you can't just play them back to back; you have to take the best parts out of each and put them together differently. You've got about a bajillian different songs in here, and you're basically playing the full songs. Take the best parts out of the two or three you like; and analyze them by keys, chords, and progressian to decide how you want to put together a song using the ideas, but not using the entire songs. I'm thinking a winning formula is pick two or so main ideas, and maybe use a third for some color here and there. You can't really get away with any more than that and keep it together easily. Remember too, that the song has to start, work it's way into an idea, develope, and end, so pay close attention to how long each idea you want to use is, and in what order you want to use them. I'm assuming you actually want 2 different tracks here, a zelda medley and a chrono medley, so I'm going to approach it like that. Pick complementary parts as you analyze the bits and pieces. There could be some great ideas you want to use in one, that are in odd keys or whatever that don't work within another set of ideas. My theory is admitedly weak, but I can see the idea from one song being used as an introduction and build up before changing into your second idea. It would need to be suficiantly re used, which is why either by modifying keys or chords or something, you'd want them to be fairly close. Lets take Zelda for example. You start out with the theme at 8:30 mins or so, and use that bit as your introduction, before you switch to more of the 'epic sounding' main theme bits. Using a little bit of the other idea in each one to tie them together (little pieces and hints of the 'epic' theme in the introduction) I think the key for you is not letting yourself get all the way through a song, but just pick a small idea to use within another idea. WELL, I'VE RAMBLED ON LONG ENOUGH! I hope that's what you were looking for. -H

You'll wanna kick the habit of writing things in double time if you're not doing it for an effect or something, it's bad practice. To get a 3/4 feel back in double, you have to accent every other measure, you have twice the measures to edit and keep in order, all your notes are unnecessarily short it just makes for a headache when you have to think 'okay, this is 3/4, but feels 6/8, so to change x-y-z, beats 1&2 are in the first measure &3& are in the second measure...

Post a link to the source, for those not familiar with it. This should be it? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y73Rc7OCCeg&feature=PlayList&p=DD19A4220B8B5B8F&playnext=1&index=19 Overall, the song is very simple. It's hard to make something like this really work. You really have to play with effects, and with volumes and panning. This style needs a lot of work done to the few instruments that it has to make them shine. If you really want the waltz 3/4 style to stand out, it needs more emphasis, otherwise it's just a lot of work for naught. You can write a song in 3/4 in your program, but still phrase it in 4/4 and not gain anything. The ambiance minimalist thing at the beginning is pretty neat, but it drags on a bit long for me. It doesn't really develop into anything. Because there are so few sounds we're working with, it needs either more sound or more effects and attention to detail. Same thing in the second part with the piano, the song just isn't really going anywhere. It's a neat sound, but it gets old quick with all your cards on the table in the first 10 seconds of your idea.

I got it, but it took a few tries. I'm listening to this new mix. It sounds to me a lot like the old in all the areas I liked. I maintain what I said about wanting some low parts, but still love what you have. Again, the length is an issue. Some trance stuff is really good at a slow type build with almost no material. You're jumps right into the melody from the original. You may be able to sort of draw this out longer by only playing part of the melody over the chords. I like what you've got, don't get me wrong. But it's less than 2 minutes long Hope this helps -H

Much better. Still repetitive though, and that'll be because of the relatively short source. Try half time in there somewhere for more of a switch up, make the starman notes twice as long. Also, a real DnB thing to do would be to lengthen those bits when the starman melody is not playing and play with slices and stuff there. Now, if you decide you want to work this out into a mix at some point, you can do like a starman intro with what you have, then work into the Mario theme or whatever.

No worries. I'm very new at the music creation sort of thing, other then the drums. I have real trouble with things like progression. Song starts, song evolves, song ends. I usually get an idea and run with it, then I get to the end and am left going 'what now' I seem to do better the more thinking I do BEFORE I start actually doing the mix. The second one isn't really about being random, as the pitch shift being off. This gets into music theory pretty heavy, but in simple terms. The key a song is in 'sounds' right. C is no flats or sharps. Then different key's have different flats and sharps. A pitch shift (don't know for sure what one you used) doesn't move based on keys or notes. So you can shift up or down and be in wrong keys, or be half steps off, or quarter steps off. (half of a half step) Etc. A good way to get started I've found is hitting up youtube. They'll have vids on FL or whatever you're trying to learn. -H

Starman eh? Lets see here... The progression at the beginning is too slow for me. Spend less time on each idea before adding new ones. As this song goes on, you need to take that thing out and change something up. (other than the one break, which is a good start) The drum at the beginning is getting 'scruntched' Pick a different sample so that you still get that bass feel without the clickyness when it goes fast. This is sort of a neat use of effects, but man, it gets old for me. Ideas that last too long with not much substance. It feels like it's the starman midi over and over again with a new effect or bend each time. I'm not through the track yet and I'm already thinking to myself NO MORE STARMAN! Along those lines, the source theme is really short, it won't stand on it's own well, you'll have to use it with other music of the game or very liberal writing. The pitch shifted bit hurts, it's almost like an effect or something, but I don't like it. Overall: Too much starman, not enough interpretation or original writing. Too close to source with only some pitch and filter changes. Wrong notes in the form of the pitch bends that don't work well. TOO Repeditive It's a very simple piece that's sort of fun to mess with effects on, but nothing I'd want to listen to again. If you ever make a mario mix and wanted to come borrow ideas from this, that might work. But honestly, I'd scrap this and work on something else. Sorry, -H

OH MAN! I can't believe I missed this! Like if I owe anyone a review... I listened to the link on the first post, so, I hope that's right. LISTENING! WILL EDIT THIS POST LATER! okay, as I'm listening to this, it's getting hard. I'm not finding things to complain about. I'll find nits to pick. It'll just take a while. I'd like to see a sort of very quick fade in on that first note. Just an 8th note in length maybe to help it not not sound quite so harsh first thing you hear in the track. At 3:35, I can't tell if that's over aggressive pitch binding in the first few notes, or a key change that comes on really strong; but I'm not liking that. If it's a key change, I'd augment maybe that first note back to the original? This really isn't my area of expertise. At 2:25 that static chord build seems like maybe it should move some, it wears out its welcome after it's to volume. I'm thinking specifically after the build is at volume at 2:30-32 ish. At 2:57 that sustained note is LONG. But it needs to be, so I don't really know what to say about it. I don't really enjoy it up there though. Maybe add something to it to help the build up and tone down the pitch bend at the end of it? Or do a combination of toning down the bend and shorting the whole note. I dunno.

Can't comment on your others, as this is the first one I've seen (or remember) Also, you'll want to get a copy of the original source in the future. A YT link will do fine usually. Should be source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHsXNkI1rfA I WILL EDIT THIS WHEN I LOOK AT YOUR CLIP, STAY TUNED! Okay, lets get started then. 1) I'd like to see a longer introduction before you jump right into the bit of playing the tune. As it is, this thing really isn't building up into anything. You're main synth enters at 1:15, but before that things are pretty static in terms of volume, percussion, and sounds. By the time the main synth enters, I'm bored. Take some time with the intro, start with just those gentle chords and some neat volume and panning. Add in the aux percussion a bit later, and go from there. This will give you some length to the track as well. 2) Some of those high frequency tones hurt, look into some EQ to help them. Some of that up there in the stratsophere sounds very off in terms of notes also. A better idea is to move all of that down an octive or 2 and get a synth you like better. 3) The heavy bass drums at 2:14 are causing compression issues I think. That, and that sort of heavy bass drum build doesn't fit into this style of song. You have a very laid back beat, then some off beat hat stuff. Nothing that really says 'throw in a very heavy bass build at the end' 4) Does this have anything making low end sounds other than the kick drum? I mean, it could really use like a bass part, right now it's all high frequency parts. Even something simple would add a lot. 5) I feel like the drums don't really build to where they need to be until about 1:46. Build to this point of complexity sooner in the song, then you can drop the drums, or change things up without needing to re-introduce a build up. 6) That main synth that you use is just repeating the same pattern over and over, it gets old really quick. Change to another synth, or incorporate some other notes in there. Once you know what key it's in, you can build something you like. 7) More piano, less of the synth that makes the whining noise. That's more of a support instrument to me, and the piano should really be your leader here. This is toward the beginning, before the main synth enters. Hope that helps, I can't speak to much else until some of that is fixed. Especially that high painful thing! A few of the progression issues. Not a bad start. -H