hewhoisiam

WHA?! Drumming crits that aren't mine? Insanity! My brain is about shot from working on mine all morning, but I'll give it a go. Anyways. This reminds me of one of my oldskool OCR staples that I keep going back to, BrainsickMetal http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00569/ And it really makes me want to break out my sixtosounds-in-a-box and do something in the flavor of rock Choir and strings is an instant win for me, I just like the way those 2 things sound together. The transition at 0:32 is a bit abrupt, but that might be what you were going for. Feels kinda unfinished tho, it's got a very quiet high string bit that acts like it wants to be a lead in note, but is too quiet to get the job done. As far as drumming goes, I like the half time parts in this over the double bass drum roll. How very metalcore/Mike Portnoy of you Other crits aside cause you can't edit them as you mentioned. At 2:03, you might want to bring back some of those choir/string sounds to thicken it up here a little bit just going into that transition. Not the full length of this section, but like 2:02-2:06. Something subtle so that it doesn't drop down totally to silent there. I'd like to hear some heavier reverb in some places in general. I think it'd help the sound out a bit. Especially on the supporting instruments. Fake ending! ...But I did the same thing in mine, so. I guess you could argue that the fade-out is classic. Maybe the supporting guitar part needs a something? And the bass itself? If I listen for bass, I do hear the slap happy bass in the intro, and in the slow parts (and it was good But as soon as the 16th bass drum rolls end, it feels like I miss it cause it was filling in a gap. Granted I've been working on mine and it has stupid amounts of bass in it, so I could have braked my brain. Okay, in reading that one above, I've decided that what I mean to say is: needs reverb to fill out the sound a bit. It's a good jam, going on my WIP playlist to be honest, which is starting to get scary big. Also, these crits are getting harder and harder cause you're not screwing things up at a rapid enough rate. MORE MISTAKES! ...So that I can be lazy and still feel useful!

More stuff done. A part added where I wanted something different, more meat, more transition. I'm also changing this to mod review. There are a few places where there is white noise in there. I'll export that track only later 2 or 3 times (it's an atmosphere thing) And splice them together to get rid of it. EDIT: For some reason, this isn't sounding good in tindeck. What I uploaded doesn't have that stuttering issue

Stuff was done. Mostly in balance and EQ and stuff. Panning was added, a few parts balanced. I dropped the bass slightly. I changed the sound of the wubwub slightly to add some volume control to the effect. The different speeds also now pan different places. Length is now right? I think? Yes, there's a place in this where one of my tracks is making a white noise that I don't like. It's the one that's doing the ambient sort of thing at the intro and at the end. I think I'm just going to have to bounce it to a track a few times and keep the bits that are good and not the white noise. Later. Doing that later. AND THE END SCREWED UP?! FML! New end is the old end, no changes. I'll fix the annoying crap tomorrow (noise and end)

Hm, poor overworked mods aren't here yet... I'll see what I can come up with. The drums remind me of this especally in the intro, but with a much thicker bass drum sound. (even still) The bass drum sound you have is great, I love it - the sound that is - But it just doesn't seem to quite fit in this application, even toned down it's still thick and sticks out more than I thought it would. It'd be good to get a second or third opinion on that tho.1:33 NEW PIANO! I like ett! I think the strings with it could sound a little fuller tho maybe? In some of the high places. Such a minor thing tho, that I really don't notice till I listen to the track 4 or 5 times. That's it man, everything else I got would just be rambling (well, more rambling )

Thanks for the crits, the bass is a hold over from when I was trying to make it a more dub step, drum n bass sort of track. I'll def check out 0:48 and see what's up there. If I remember right, there are a few places that I have 'good nuff' fills that I need to go over and polish. I have a few weird low synths in there from when this was gonna be a dubstep-like mix, I made the cutoff filter bass in z3ta. It's the wub wub wub. Kinda a staple of the genre, but I might could take a look and smooth it out or something. There's very little mastering in the track so far, just some EQ. Yeah, track is only about 4 mins >.> I have some sources and tracks in my DAW that are that length that I didn't delete before I exported, so 2 mins of silence to reflect on how EPIC the track was I'd love to play me some drums for it, sadly dun have the equipment to mic em and they're far and away from the compy I'd need to move every time I wanted to record Thanks again, I'll get somenfin done today when I get home from work

Okay, I wanted to re visit my old attempt at this song, and finally finish something. This isn't that, this is the working towards finishing something, but it's a start. It started out one thing, then became something else, then changed again, and I added stuff. And went crazy. I'm most interested in structure fixes/changes and to see how the track flows, but as always, any crits are welcome. YT is not cooperating, so no sources. But it's Noirfair in the later Metroid games. The intro is from Lava Trail, which led to Burning Caves. SOURCE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNTBOnI1x2w AND http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiVcEXcDOVc UPDATE: Changing this to mod review. Thanks OLD VERSION REMOVED: SEE UPDATE IN THREAD

Just some quick clarifications and a shameless bump to see if anyone else has some thoughts on this. (I always feel weird giving all my opinions with no one else chiming in >.>) As far as the drum intro thing, it's kinda a preference thing. What you have is good, but not for me. I think I'm dealing with a balance issue there, where the drums are creative and loud, it seems to be fighting with the guitar. Now at that point in the song the melody guitar part is way more important as it's laying down the introduction. The kick and few cymbal hits in the intro are great. (not the heavy crashes, the small rides) Take out the tom fills at 0:09, 0:17, 0:22, and replace them with a more subtle snare/cymbal/kick thing you had been using. Then at 0:26-0:27, you can really use them and be creative leading into that snare part. Just those tweaks in my mind will give the part a sense of direction, like it's building to be more intense, and it won't be trying to fight with the guitar there. That's just my take on it tho. All this stuff is opinion, so if you can get someone else to weigh in on it that'd be for the best. A great drummer once said that it's as much about the spaces and spots you don't play, as the notes and runs that you do play. I think that's my complaint about the intro and a few other places in the drum track, it's so complex and crazy in a few spots that it really doesn't sound human. Too hectic and everywhere, some space would do it good. Again, my opinion. And the cymbals sound great sound wise, I'm talking about application, not sound there. And that kinda goes hand in hand with my previous comment above. These headphones are Grado 225s, so, they're pretty good. They've had plenty of burn-in time, they sound great, but they used to have some harsher highs when they were newer but they're great at not muddying ranges together. Tom sweep is just they way I learned it being called, it's uh. A quick hit on the way to something else. I play them mostly from the ride cymbal. If I was playing a quater note driving rock on like the ride bell, a tom sweep section would come in and hit the &s with my right hand, and then the left still plays the rock 2 and 4, but puts 16th notes on the low/mid/high toms. The sweep thing is just the right hand work. Hope that helps -H

No response? That makes me sad. Let me just point out... That source, is bad ass, BAD ASS MY FRIEND, I'm like mmm. And haven't even made it to the mix yet. IMHO, the drums are too active in the first few seconds of this track (drummer saying lay off the drums?! preposterous!) Give it a few seconds before you lay on the drums (cymbals being the big offender here imho) That makes a great tom solo/buildup really shine if it comes out of the blue. Along the balance issue, I love me a powerful kick drum, but even for me, this one is a bit much, love the sound, but back off a bit. If you want to fill that gap in more of a solo/fun sort of sense, write a part to do lo-tom sweeps. (I actually do this in 8th note rock, with tom on the &s from time to time, or on the beats) The guitar solos are pretty kick ass, but it's MFN NOESCAPE! DID YOU EXPECT LESS?! The piano seems to come from out of the blue at first near the end after said raging shreddage. Now, I realize that it's in the song before this, but it's really echoing a part, It hasn't really established itself as another instrument till this bit near the end. I'd like to see it with some more support earlier on. There are a bajillion ways to use a piano in EVERY type of music, so I'll leave it to you what you had in mind, but a the slight echo at 0:43, then nothing for ... uh... till... 1:33 and a mostly background role there. Bring that sucker forward, make it awesome, or in this case, louder. On the level of the guitar solo. (or slightly less, but more than it is now) Too quiet. Hope that helps -H

Keep at it! I'm sure you'll... Actually. I don't think ANYTHING will be as good as this... Ever.

I've been listening to it on Winamp on loop for... since I found it (time my first post) So epic. Over and over. Best OCR track ever IMHO

HOW INSULTING! HAVE SOME DIGNITY AND DON'T BELITTLE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THIS GREAT MAN! He represents the best from among us! And he's gonna be on the front page! Have some respect!

Welp, if that don't motivate me to get offa ma ass and get somenfin done. Nothing will. I'll see you on the FP, COMRADE!

Gotta echo Proto with not much to add.

That's cause of the sub bass and a missing feel where proto says he's not hearing a bass. I personally like the feel now, but it's a legit crit. In any event, Pendulum does it a lot, so that's the similarity. The vocals do have that hang over in the highs. I can go either way on this, I either want it more mechanical and really brought out (as the vocals first come in, and in the high notes) or I want it cleaned up a touch. I kinda feel like I want it brought out, but that's all preference and I am crazy, so... All and all, this track is good as is, even with the crits, so. Good luck.

ZOMG! OVER 8 MEGS! Erhm, anyways, I seem to be a day or so late on this. Let the drunken-rambling-review commence... This thing has just got a good solid groove that I like. It's carried over from the source well (that's one of the high points for me in it) Groovability, A word I'm now patenting. There is still that high squeak in there that you love and I hate. But it's a preference thing. On a semi-related side note, those high bells are right there. They're just high enough to be interesting and just low enough to hot hurt the ears. A fine balancing act there. I think the transition at 3:08 needs to be changed. To me, what you have feels like the song is ending, and it shouldn't. I think it's because it's so abrupt. In my mind I see the static -old record playing- thing you used in the intro there BEFORE the abrupt cut off. And peeling away instruments a few at a time. You can do that quickly and get a nice effect without the abruptness of what you have now. I also see bringing in an EQ effect working really well. Honestly, I wanna work an EQ into my current project that has the feeling of in-ear headphones being removed from the ear. Is neat stuff. That is, if I get off my ass and do it @3:27 I feel like this is missing some bass. It has a little bit, but I kinda want a pad sound filling that frequency just a little bit so it's not SO huge at 4:04 when the real synth bass comes in. This is kinda a preference thing, and there are other spots in here that have the same sort of 'where is the bass?' feel. It's less that there's something wrong, and more that it seems like it could be smoother. The ending I feel just kinda lingers. 5:18+ is just too long for what it is. I get bored with it, since it's already a long song. Also, the presentation for it is very minimal, it gives a real -THE SONG IS ENDING- vibe... but then at the very very end of that (which was too long imho) you bring back that pad from the intro which is kinda a work up into the song with that long delay. It just doesn't work for me the way presented. Of course, preference, and I'm crazy, so... Hope that helps. ALSO! WHY ISN'T YOUR NAME ON THE FRONT PAGE YET!? EDIT: And why aren't you getting more review love?!

Aw boss! You being ignored? Allrightlemmeseewhatchagotthere. 2:10 I feel like if you try to slow that to be less abrupt, you'll lose the effect you have now. However, there is a lot of repetition leading up to the 2:10 section. I'll get to that in a sec. repetition and length: 1:47-2:10 Is like 8 repetitions of the same thing. It's too much for my taste. Don't get me wrong, some is good, especially the way this worked earlier with some pads and distant sounding melody to keep us interested. But there's not enough going on there imho to merit that amount of same-ie stuff. It's also going to be anyone's preference. And I'm crazy. So. 3:16 I don't get too much of an ending vibe from this. As much as a triplet/swung feel break for just a fraction of a second 3:13-3:14. If you think it sounds ending-esque, try changing the repeating pattern to give a leading tone kinda feel maybe? Or just have them not be so static. I dunno. It's something I'd have to hear to know for sure, so I'm just kinda throwing that out there. I like this sort of break. This section is a good contrast to above. Bad repetition there, is good repetition here. Cause there's something going on with it to keep me interested. And I tend to *oh look a kitty* I like the weird slow part before 4:22. <insert slow pads claim here> I don't understand why people hate slow pads, I kinda like them... but I know someone will say something. Anyways, it may be abrupt with that new instrument there. But I wouldn't say it's a deal breaker. You might consider some ghost notes before that tho if you wanted to sort of smooth it out so it's not so abrupt. I don't think the overall mix will be too long just for the sake of length. But I kinda said my piece on that with good and bad repetition. Honestly there are things you can cut or polish to make it not seem as long. I tend to like the longer tracks myself, so I'm not really good at telling people NO NO LESS! LESS! I'm the MORE! MORE! MORE! guy...

Meh, I'll live Thanks for the concern tho. <upper mids> While you're right about the heat. I want to add that I like the sound, the bells is a nice choice. Just like you said tho, needs a touch of werk. at 3:18 I want to hear a slight bit of a reverb/echo type effect there. That sudden drop off just into the static is okay. But I think it COULD be amazing with just a ghost of the last second before. Just my opinion there, but as is it seems just to not flow very well. This kinda feels like it ends in the middle of an idea to me. I keep expecting just a few more notes to finish it off. Then again, I'm crazy... Hope that helps -H

I've been out of the loop for a while, girl and all that. Good news is when they dump your ass you have a lot of free time. When I'm off this binge, expect me to get back into it full swing. But yeah, that's why I have only been trollin' of late. Anyways, the squeak sound isn't a bad idea in and of itself. It just needs some extreme high end EQ so it's not painful. I should add: I recently upgraded my headphones that I usually use to some Grado Labs 225s, so my high ends are really clear and vivid, it might not be this way for everyone. (I recently got onto Blue Magic of all people, so >.>) Me? I suck at panning, I actually need to get off my ass and spend an hour or so with the EQ on my drum kit on my current project, but havn't had the drive for a few days. I got like 3:00, it's just pulling hairs tryin to get that last little bit of length and then work on structure. Anwyays, keep up the good work. -H

You can have one of my finest drunken reviews. First things first, I am jammin to the track. Just sayin, I love the jazzy feel of this with the intro and new chords. Hasn't changed from the last version. I'd like to hear that first transition fleshed out a little bit more. It seems a bit abrupt. If you don't wanna flesh it out, I'd say go the other way and make it more abrupt. A 'pause' in there of only a fraction of a second to give it some space could do wonders. Of course, crazy and drunk, so... Little bit more umph on the snare, but not much. They ALL sound like ghost notes. The clap is good, but need some variation and some beat in the actual snare. IMHO After the glitch break the song goes right into chords. I think something could be done other than just thickening them to make it more interesting until the melody comes in. Could just be me, but that part right there is a bit simple. Of course it contrasts the rest a bit so take with a grain of salt, that's just my first thoughts. Tune down the glitch effect at the end of this. I mean. keep it, just less in the mix I think would be good. There are moments of total silence which breaks the flow to me. Honestly it sounds good, but it the total silence is a no for me. Just back off on it a touch, keep the effect, but don't go totally dark and you get the best of both worlds. hope this helps -H

I deny your request for gushing praise and fill this space with meaningless ramble instead! (aka all my opinions) You again with the chip tunes stuff! WhatamIadowiththis?! The 'record skipping' section in the middle is kinda neat, but I wanna hear just a touch of the melody over the top of it. Yeah I can hear the chords in there, but still, as is it's too empty for my taste. Now, it is a fake-ie drums set and I know that's what you're going for. But the fake snare is fake weak. Needs some fake strength. Bass too. I'm not hearing much kick drum in the lows. Drums could use a bit of variation in the transitions and stuff. Of course, I'm crazy so... <Insert mandatory 'too short' comment here> There's actually a high screech sound that offends me. Needs some EQ to make it more mellow. Sounds almost like it's being used as a sound effect in places. But it's too high and scratchy/squeaky for it's own good. (all in the right ear if that helps you find it) That be nuff fer now. -H

But you'll need SOME SOMETHING or you'd double post and then the WIP mods would be... Well okay, you might have a loophole for the whole mod thing. EDIT: This also totally gives me an idea for mine that I'ma steal. THANKS

@ Sharing too early: Well. IT IS good to take these things in steps. If it was perfect right off there'd be some sort of awesomness overload. A-My-Head-Asplode sort of thing. I tried to do the incremental thing, but I don't really have a solid foundation in my DAW or much of a musical background. This me to have musical adventures, which usually consists of combinations of google and wikipedia to figure out what a certain sound is, and how to make it. So my work is painfully slow. (GETTING BETTER mind you:-D) Mmhokay, lets see vat ve gots. Is MOAR! A valid critique? Been a 12ish hour workday for me, so when my review is all goofy-like with made up words in it, that's why. samophlange! New 'lead' synth sound: At first I really liked it, but a little bit later I was sort of mixed. Let me explain: I'm crazy! Erhm, let me explain in more useful terms: First thought: It sounds a lot like a synth guitar. While I think it's got a neat sound. It doesn't really have the 'life' that a real (or sampled) guitar might there. Second thought: that sort of lead to me kinda makes the repetitive nature of that part stand out, overpowering the early lead sounds. (this at 1:10) The other lead is a much better match for this (at 1:32) But later in the piece, this sound comes back in a lead position again right after the vocals. So in short, I guess you could say I like the sound, but not the role... Or not such a large role? Then again, crazy. Take with grain of salt. Placeholder vocals: Yeah, placeholders. Honestly I don't like lyrics cause to me having to understand words takes away from the awesome that is music (I never listen to lyrics when I listen to music, true story) I think these add a lot in their role now, so I can't wait to see what that do if you get some more refined stuff in there. My other thought though is you might want to back off the drum track a bit there, just the volume of the snare a bit of the bass hits prolly. It'll give some contrast to the whole drum track. Also... er. New section below now that we're talking about drums. New drums: Also (cont.) The neat cymbal bell thing is great in this. You can re use that idea here. (vocals section) Not the whole thing, but if you were looking to further change up the beat. You're already taking off some bass hits to not cramp up the vocal section with off beat bass hits. Fill the off beat 'feel' in a more subtle way with bringing back a reference to that cymbal thing. Other improvements sound like a good step in the right direction, not harping on much here. Placeholder end thoughts: This new sound kinda satisfies my earlier complaint about missing lows when the bass 'left' the piece. It's a full sound that occupies those ranges well in the absence of the synth bass. I also feel like it sounds good with that higher bit at the end, much better than the last synth, prolly cause it does the lower ranges better. so that's pretty cool.

Good stuff. I'm working with a kit I'm using now. I can't get my bass drum right. I want it uh, up in frequency a little bit. I'll figure it out. GOOD STUFF none the less.

Ah boss! Let me check out yours while I take a break from mine. You know, I read somewhere it's 10,000 hours to be really good at something. But for me I think it's taking longer. Anyways, letszeewhatchoogot. MMM, I happen to be working on a DnB thing of magmoore caverns, so this is actually right up my ally. Drums - A touch on the repetitive side and could use some humanizing. I used to think 'well, that's just the genre' but it doesn't have to be. The genre often throws in breaks and makes slight change ups (an extra bass drum hit for example) It's the little things in a track like this that'll really make it shine. That being said, those little things are usually about the last thing on my list of stuff. For me it's more like 'get it done, then make it good' Sadly my track record not that good The intro cymbal part is neat, but if you really want to make it shine, it needs some accents, establish that THUMP that you're going for before you start in with the heavy bass sounds. Also, drummers can roll on the bells of cymbals which can be very cool. (drum nerd, but flams, swiss army triplets, ruffs, and rolls totally underutilized by... well the world) Synth Leads - These can sound a little bit thin at times. I like the main lead in this, but the one near the end feels kinda hollow (detuned saws) Around the 1:15 mark there's a neat effect. I either want more of it, or don't want it all. Cause. It just kinda stands out there and I'm mixed on it, could go either way. Synth Bass - I love wub. Let me say, I'm bias on that point, I like my bass to wub a little bit at least. This is a real think powerful bass, but I'm not really hearing any modulation. I think a little would help. Also, the bass seems to uh. Stop? Late in this. It is powerful, so it's fine if you wanna tank it out. But it might need something in it's place that's more subtle or just some polish. As it stands, it just feels empty without it there at the end. Anyway, hope that helps. Ima get crackin on mine today and maybe put out the WIP before 2012 -H

The build up there at the beginning is great. I wanna hear the softer sounds pan a little bit tho. Like an automation. That's just me tho. And I'm crazy. Oh my does it ever get chippy and glitchy in the middle. I am mixed on des point. I like it, but it runs a little long for my taste, or a little heavy. In any event, it breaks the flow of the song for me. It may just be me, but that 'clap' sound you use at the end has some fizzle on the end of it that I don't really like. In my mind, that sound should be crisp, sharp, and end quickly. I seem to hear the clap in a lot of music that tends to have heavy heavy echo effects. So that sharp sound is kinda a contrast to that. Meh. Might just be me. And don't mind Gario... He hears a drip of water in the sink and thinks it needs a vocal track with it. RIP blip, you will be missed.