hewhoisiam

There's a good 'getting started' thread somewhere here. let me see if I can find it. Eh, not exactly what I was looking for, but this may help you... http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?t=13478 Poke around in the Guides & Tutorials form for more help and great advice as well.

I'm on a mission to hit the >3 reply posts, so sorry if I'm reviving a dead topic. I like the piano remixes Sent you a PM with that thing relating to piano covers in general, so I won't go into that here. As far as a 'real' sound. You're going to need to mic a real piano, or get a midi controller and play right into some DAW software. From that you and effects, such as reverb and ambiance and stuff. There are some great 'getting started' guides here that will point you in the right direction. As far as ideas for this go, In solo piano stuff that I see, the tempo/volume changes and stuff really stand out because there's only the one instrument. So adding some more there will help. As well as slipping into like half time/double time. Both have a different feel and I hear your tempo change, but no right from half time to 'normal time' so to speak. You might try that to give it some length. Another thing that I always think is neat and really makes some bits shine and stick out in a piece is going up an octave. It also has the added benefit of letting you repeat ideas that you used before, but would get old if they were repeated as is. On the musical/theory end of things (my weak point Q.Q) you can do neat things like keeping the chord progression (which I can't identify without the stuff in front of me and lots of time) And change keys. My theory is pretty weak, so I can't tell you a whole lot about 'how' to do this. I just know it's possible. Hope this helps.

It's been a few days since I've broke out the old brick-style GB and played the Pokemon games. Ah, the sweet smell of nostalgia! Anyways, had to look up the source. http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=d0GuW7x8X-Q&feature=related I love the orchestral sound scape, it's just fun, good stuff. And Timpani! The snare in places (0:44 comes to mind) feels weak just play those few notes. I'd suggest flams and ruffs instead of just normal notes and 5/7 stroke rolls. Some sustained rolls might help fill some of the quieter parts as well. Just my thoughts. The fade to an 8-bit sound at the end is kinda neat. I have mixed feelings on it. It's not really 'there' long enough to merit much of a comment, I think it either needs to be more utilized or dropped completely. Right now it feels like it's in no-man's-land back there. I've seen a lot of mixes use that sort of sound as an introduction. Anytime I think of an orchestral arrangement, I tend to lean towards massive dynamic and tempo changes. This has some really nice builds in it as is, maybe a little bit more in the way of accents/dynamics on some of the builds would help with that general feel. Musically, I don't know much to tell you. That is, technically/musically speaking. SLy gave me a brief lesson a while ago on the modes, but I couldn't tell you much, key changes and such.

Neat track, got a real 'nod your head to this' feel to it for me. The areas of just 8 notes over and over near the 1/3rd mark get old too quickly for my taste. They need some help to stay interesting, and/or to be made less powerful. The choice in synths makes the sound pretty well full, which is a big plus in my book. A short theme like this really seems to me like it could easily slip in and out of a half-time feel to stay interesting. Just my first impression though. I like the bits of melody you add, it's a great addition to the otherwise short source, but it gets overpowered by those 8th notes playing on the same note/chord/thing. I think some balance would really help this so I don't struggle to hear the melody.

Standard disclaimer: These are all my opinions, etc, etc, etc. I defiantly like the feel of this track. I could see a few minor tweaks going a long way, volume for one, helping with the transitions. Another thing I like doing (though I may be in the minority here) is to put a pan automation on any kind of creepy pad sound. It feels like it's going left/right/left/right and adds to that eh. Paranoid feel I guess you'd say. Also all the ambient sounds get sort of muddy in places, some EQ would help. At least I think, I'm not that great at mastering. The entire track feels like it could do with some low end sounds. Maybe it's just me though, been listening to DnB material to get some ideas recently so I'm not a huge fan of the buzzing synth lead near the end. Just don't feel the sound meshes very well with the whole ambient thing you've got going on.

Okay, I'll give this a go. I'm trying to bump my own cause I'm pretty much at a dead end, so if you're bored... Bah, I always feel like a prick when I write up a critique like this one, but here goes some feedback. Right off I can tell you this feels entirely too much like a midi. Very mechanical. You'll have to mix up your choices in synths a lot to achieve the sort of minimalist feel that (I think?) you're going for. This applies to all instruments used. This doesn't vary much from the source, which is short, you'll need to do some custom writing and variation on the theme. A lot with a source this short. There are lots of musical things that can be done, most of which I don't feel smart enough to tell you about, as my theory is very weak. This is usually what gives me the most problems in my work. There are places in this that could really use some additional sounds to help it not be so thin. Several places are just a very simple drum beat and that bell sounding lead. No bass sounds, no pad sounds. Just not very entertaining. The tempo changes could work, but not to the extent that they're used in this. That crawling at the end of the track is almost painfully slow. Length could be a problem, but at the moment there's not enough changes/variation to really make it much longer. It's a very early WIP, neat source and some good ideas/textures there to work with. Just needs some direction. Good luck with this. -H

One bump for some feedback before I decide what to do with this. At the moment I'm going to drop it in the 'failure' category and start more or less from scratch.

It's an 8 second source?! Oh my. It's got a nice smooth feel to it right off, which is a sort of mellow groove that I could get into, but as a whole the piece ends up way to static for me. I get bored with it in the first minute. The first synth at 1:23 is a welcome change, but it doesn't do anything for the other patterns being played over and over again. The drum solo on it's own isn't a bad change of pace, I like it. Hope that helps.

Early an again in the morning. Did some work and have an update. OLD: http://tindeck.com/listen/mnxk I kinda miss my guitar and am trying to talk myself into liking the new synth I put in it's spot. Still feeling rough around the edges in places, and there seems to be one frequency in the automation that bugs me. Fattened up the bass and changed my bell synth to something beefier. Did things to the overall balance. Played with the drums. Extended a solo at the end. Trying to talk myself into liking this as well. EDIT: Looking into whatever that clicking is at the start...

Thanks for the advise and feedback, first of all. Did some work today, working on synthing a something to replace the guitar. Also worked on expanding one of the ending solos. Thing I have still seems weak by comparison. I actually took some out of the drums, and am currently working on the bass to bring it up to match, or at least give it some punch. I figured out what Gario meant by recognizing a certain lick where I took up an idea and raised it an octave, it's what he did in his. Had to dig in my creepy WIP folder to figure that one out! Still trying to decide how/when/if to change the main 8th note-ish idea from the sound I have it on, and if it gets old. I like establishing the main theme before embellishing it much. But I'll look into some changes in the start of this. I'm taking my time on an update to make sure it's better, and not just 'newer'. Look for an update by no later than Tuesday. My current checklist on a wordpad on my desktop is: (done)quiet drums hats are loud (work in progress) simplify drums and add solos/transitions (done)change guitar to synth balance lower pad volumes (done)change pad attack rate bring up bell volume at beginning (work in progress)expand first -new solo- to twice length -fill the blank with the descending patern first used as is, it's 6 measures + 2 pad transition, need to add 2 solo measures. Might consider raising the descending pattern an octave. Might also consider using standard descending patern + pad to enter into the modified version. Once in, expand to fill the 2 measures.- Anyways, I'm still here, werkn. Thanks again. -H

I have mixed feelings on that guitar. I want it, I just... don't want it. Everything else is very synthed, then it's rock guitar. I like rock guitar, but may consider moving this to a synth of some sort. >.> Drums came off as louder in the final product than what they were in software, so Ima look at that, also simplify. I've been playing with filters in this to try to keep the main pattern it from getting stale, I may put in another synth to change things. I'll get some work done on this tomorrow prolly. EDIT: Things to do Friday night. Will get to this... Should point out I was months late on the actual mix, so a few days is meh XD

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

NO! Overall this is pretty solid. Along the lines of what Emunator. I'd say keep the cymbals you have here, and use some more African type drums. Along the lines of conga drums and such. Might mesh better. Other than that it's a fun mellow track.

I'm keeping a promise to Gario. I'm actually quite late. But I sat down to play with this a few days ago and have been plugging away at it, now it's feedback and improvement time. Or just leave any comment. Like, hate, like some, hate some, have toast, don't have toast...etc. Source: Final Fantasy VIII - Laguna's Theme http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2vpqd9gKXk UPDATED 7 26 2010: Track:

Much better methinks. Best of luck

I have my 'creepy stalker guy' folder of all the WIPs, and the good ones make it onto a playlist. Glad to hear that this one (which I dug up from 3months ago) is getting subbed. Love me some 6/8 metal!

First off, let me start by saying I'm always thinking about 'real' which is very different than 'good' (a synth is no better than a guitar, just different, but either can work) So, when I talk about drums, I think in terms of how a drummer would do X,Y,Z, not necessarily 'is this best for the mix' And my usual disclaimer - these are all opinions, feel free to disagree etc, etc. You in the audience can disagree, etc Lemme give it another listen and see if something else pops out at me... 1) Humanizing drums (and maintaining sanity) You can add another drum track(s) and add crashes and embellishments at the end and beginning of phrases, every 2 or 4 measures just for a change. the tom transitions you have work well, but with a beat this fast it gets repetitive equally fast. 2) At 1:16 that double bass part doesn't sound quite right to me. Personal opinion maybe. At 1:16 it's actually a straight fast 8 driving pattern that I like. It's a bit later on where the double bass feels like it's just too much. Maybe a few would be nice, but imo too many. 3) Some places the guitar sounds great, in others I feel it gets pushed aside when it should be center stage. The synth around 1:28 doing that is great, then it seems to me when the guitar comes in there it's too quiet. I can see it coming in with the same energy and volume that the synth had. Yeah, I do that in my double bass all the time. But a real bass drum is muffled and dead, much different than a synth bass. Or at least I think. It's going so fast there that it's hard to pull out individual drums. I meant the original comment to be more along the lines of 'if you wanted to add emphasis to tom changes, a good way is to add a bass drum on the change' I guess. I don't know. If ja like what ja gots, keeps it. As far as how cheating works on this as I've come to understand it: Double bass cheats most often in 2s and 4s, single bass cheats in 1s and 2s. 6es at this speed go 4 toms, 2 bass, 4 next tom, 2 bass. or 2 toms, 4 bass. It gives it a lopsided feel that stands out in songs (Mike Portnoy loves this) Single bass is usually done slower, but you can double the 2s pretty easily. The singles usually take er. Look like this (his tom solo beat) http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=H2Tlp-iS8ZE&feature=related Again. I don't know if that's what you're looking for, but that's what I think when I'm trying for a certain sound. Not trying to tell you how to run the show (which I kinda feel like I'm doing, yar har har ) Just some insight. And a wall of textes.

It's been a few days, let me see if I remember how to do this... *insert usual disclaimer here* The overall feel of this is good, I'm going to critique the drum track though. You want the 16th note that fall in between the down beats to be more laid back, quieter. Right now, they're overpowering. Anytime you have a run of notes, 16ths or 16th trips or 32nds, accenting the first notes, and the first note on new drums gives it a more natural feel. Consider using different snares for loud accents (I tend to think of rimshots or rim+snares) to really lay down a heavy back beat in places. The 16ths on hi hat come to mind as maybe a good place to add some extra smack to the snare. During the tom solos, don't forget the bass drum is a drum too. We cheat and use it to fill space or really lay down accents. Just a thought. The entire thing seems a little loud. Maybe it's just me though, I can really see some dynamics on the pad-like sounds making a difference in this. Of course, I'm a dynamics whore so..

I think I'm going to have to break down and shell out some money for a real theory class Q.Q

I have NO idea what this is doing Q.Q PIANO E G# B : V F# A C# : vi F# A D : IV (inverted, D F# A) E G# B : V E G B : v THEN B E G# D F# A C E G B E G# B D# F# B E G# D G B B D# F# B E G# D F# A C E G B E G# B D# F# B E G# D G B B D# F# B E F# This thread isn't really active anyway, maybe I can just cheat and do teknopartie.

Since theory hurts me, you all can see if this is right, who knows, maybe it'll help somebody. Key of A, progression E G# B : V F# A C# : vi F# A D : IV (inverted, D F# A) E G# B : V E G B : v Is it normal to go from major mode to minor mode? V vi IV V is all major, v is minor. Here's to hoping I get all this someday.

I have to stop listening to mine. Every time I do, I'm looking for flaws and improvements. Needs to move on now, show's over, move along

Good stuff, and grats.

BAH! If I can get it uploaded. The first one had the end cut off, the second was missing all my melody instruments. Mai Head Hoits.

Aw, you mean... It has a name? I'll see if I can get something hammered out. #9 hammer this time.