GrayLightning
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Posts posted by GrayLightning
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I agree with the others here. Way too repetitive, even for a trance mix. Cut out the large amounts of fat and focus on the meat next time. Beats are also way too repetitive, almost sounds like you programmed something simple in a drum machine and just let it on or used loops; mix it up bro.
There's not much here that doesn't scream generic in my view. That's not a bad thing, I mean this mix is certainly above average and there's nothing terribly wrong here. It's certainly something electronica listeners might enjoy, but at this point it really isn't up to the bar.
More arrangement, more variation/expansion, more creativity with synth design/processing and drumwork is needed. NO
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Pretty interesting arrangement. I agree with Vig on this one as far as the flaws go. Some of the sections were a bit too sparse, a minor complaint though.
The concept is pretty artsy and it's pulled of pretty well in general. Production as a whole is good. I know you're using the reverb to create this atmosphere but I think there's too much use of reverb in some sections and on some instances. Some of the busier sections don't sound that texturally cohesive. Also the ending is unsatisfactory. Still pretty good stuff on the whole and gets a borderline Yes from me.
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First of all, good that you're doing your own drum and perc work and not relying on loops. But what's here is still a bit redundant, I would consider mixing those up more, processing them more. They do indeed sound very flat.
Compositionally I thought this was way too bare for the first half. This needs a lot more elements to create a more interesting listen. In this context the simplicity doesn't really work too well. The result is plodding and a bit lacking. I did enjoy nearing the end parts from 2:15 onward, but by then it was too little too late. Arrangement wise it was pretty par for the course. Consider expanding and playing with the source material more. Change up the structure or expand the melody or harmony more.
Slightly unsatisfying ending as well. Keep working at it. NO
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This should have gotten the form letter in our opinion. This is extremely basic in arrangement, composition and production. The synths sound like they came from the late 80s, and they don't sound at all that special in my opinion. There are some nice ideas here, but overall this needs a lot of work.
Please use the WIP forum for future feedback before submitting.
NO
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I'm not feeling this one either. GPO and z3ta+ are capable of professional quality work, but here I feel it sounds a bit plain. The sounds and synths almost sound generic stock stuff. I agree with larry that this to me sounded bare. I'd like to hear some more processing to create a denser background behind the synths. Drums and percussion could have been mixed up more to give the piece a more driving energy. That being said, I agree with Israfel and Harmony, in that there's a lot of neat creativity going on here. I'd love to hear this realized with more polish and work.
Borderline NO
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I love the style and the synths. My main issue before was the lack of arrangement, also the muddiness. You've solved the arrangement issue. I enjoyed what you've done here greatly.
Unfortunately to compensate for the mud issues I think you over EQ'd stuff here, and also there's no bottom end here. Did you over over treble, remove too much bottom? I think this could still benefit from more bottom end. There's no balls to this mix down there.
Vig makes good points, which brings up my other issue. The drum work is indeed messy and out of place.
The business factor I can see as putting off some, but this sounds like trademark jrock/jsynth music. The instrumentation and synths Vurez uses here are so trademark Yonemitsu, especially the awesome sequencing and usage of the synth brass. Excellent job in that regard.
Borderline NO. Please resubmit!
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The problems with this mix are already covered, so there's not much more for me to add.
I like the synth bells here. I agree some of the sounds had no definition, it's like everything just bled into each other and to a more serious degree even the instruments that don't textrually mesh together.
The guitar kept changing its pan placement, I thought it sounded way too thin and almost mono-ish. On headphones this balance is much more apparent and makes for not a very optimum listening experience.
On top of this the arrangement isn't too expansive.
This needs a lot of work in my opinion. Keep working at it, there are good ideas here, but they need more work, polish and execution at this point.
NO
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Well, my main gripe here is the composition is a bit sparse and thin at times. Would have liked to have heard more meat and accompaniment here. It's a very solid arrangement overall, and the synth design, production, fx processing and automation are just first class. I didn't like the ending at all though, it sounded like it just cut off.
Not my cup of tea, but I haven't heard this kind of quality synth production and wizardry in our panel in a long time, I just wish it had some of the same high level substance and compositional richness to boot. A minor complaint though. High quality work regardless. YES
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I know Kaijin has some issues with the way our policy on arrangements have evolved and the way his mixes have been been scrutinized in this regard. I'm sorry to say, I felt this is pretty much along the lines of Kai's other stuff, he likes to mix conservatively almost as an homage to the original and it shows here.
I too am a serious fan of this series and Iwadare's music, so I know this piece by heart. I felt this mix followed along the pacing and structure too strictly for OCR standards. The intro sections were one of the more expansive sections, but after that it started to follow the original fairly closely. Even the genre and instrumentation I felt isn't an evolved departure of the original.
It's difficult to mix this source material since the original is incredible. I wasn't too keen on some of the compositional choices you made, the string arrangement is cluttered sounding, and I don't think using midi pitch bends in this manner really does anything beneficial other than stick out like a synth. I did like your glock and piano composition though, it really sounds like you've studied Iwadare's style well. Orchestration as a whole is quite good, but I would have liked to have heard something more daring or liberal.
Certainly a well-put-together piece and a pleasant listen, but the conservative approach makes me want to hear where you can take this rather than relying on the great source material too strongly. Sorry, NO
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This is indeed messy. The drums/perc don't at all fit in this.
Phasers are tricky as they can add substance to a mix, but in this case they can really mess up a mix. It just sounds very chaotic.
Larry is right the whole mix is very muddy. This needs a lot of EQ work. Focus on cutting some of the lows and boosting some of the highs.
For a slow chill piece like this, I think this also needs more clever processing. I'd like to hear this with clever long reverb trails. It sounds quite dull as it is now.
The arrangement itself is very conservative. Compositionally and as far as presentation I think this is really hampered by the cloud of sounds here. The synth should stand out a bit more. I think this needs more meat and substance as well.
I actually liked the choral parts at 4:30 and reaching the end points, I think there was progress shown in your abilities.
Don't be discouraged, this is pretty good work for your first submission, but this isn't there yet. This needs a lot of work. Please use our Works In Progress forum to get feedback on your new works/before you submit. Keep working at it. NO
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Gee, you've got a lot of distortion on the guitar. Given the style of music, it seems to me that a tone with a less distortion and more clarity would have made more sense. There's also a muffled, "distant" quality to the recording of the guitar. It simply doesn't sit well in the rest of the mix. And the drums are basically acting like a metronome; they really need to be spiced up a bit.
Combine that with an arrangement that isn't particularly interpretive and only a stone's throw away from "cover" and I have to side with a
NO
Exactly. Hate to be so brief, but Israfel nailed this one. I have nothing more to add to his perfect reasoning. Needs quite a lot of work at this point. NO
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Yeah this is pretty interesting, and a really enjoyable listen. I'm with Larry on this one, arrangement was pretty straightforward for the most part, there were elements of expansion, but I'd like to see more of that, more creativity, interpretation. Try changing the structure around, play around with the theme more, etc.
I'd also like to hear more elements here, sometimes there's a melodic and bass element and simplistic drums. I'd like to see more attention paid to one area of the mix to give it a hook. Abrupt incomplete sounding ending also.
I like the instrumentation by the way.
Promising, but needs more work. I hope that you would consider resubmitting this. NO
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It's surprising this hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. Chalk up another great one to Israfel.
That's because no one recognizes "Dead Lover's Consort".
Yeah, it should be linked to his Israfel mixer ID soon. Edit: Fixed.
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This is actually interesting to some degree, but I can't help but feel this is all groove based. There really isn't any substance here compositionally or instrumentally. I felt the arrangement was fairly straight forward in some respects, almost like it built on it rather than reinterpreted it. I'd like to hear you play with the theme more, but most importantly add some meat to this mix. Also I felt this was very repetitive not only in the drums/perc but also the other elements, mix it up! A cool listen, but I don't feel it's there yet for the reasons I and Liontamer mentioned. Bland ending to boot.
NO
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I think it's a good arrangement concept, especially near the two minute mark - outside that it borders on too straight forward for my taste.
I think the synths and samples are a bit dead sounding, there's a lo-fi intentional sound in some sections that don't sit well with me. The production here is vanilla in my book. Could have used some more reverb and delay or creative automation and other processing to spice things up - particularly on the live guitar. Which is a shame as that to me is the highlight of the mix, would have been nicer if the texture of the guitar had more body.
It's an enjoyable listen, but let's not forget in this case it's slightly reliant on the superb source material - which isn't to take away from the good here. Nice mix. YES
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i will say it won't be the same without larry's show, i sincerely enjoyed bugging all you ocr people and busting larry's proverbial radio frequencies.
but at least we all have each other.
right? or are my 15 minutes of fame finally over.
We can always kick out Larry and replace him with you in the OCR panel. You have more refined tastes in music than he does anyway.
There's already one woman on the panel.
Caramella can go as well.
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i will say it won't be the same without larry's show, i sincerely enjoyed bugging all you ocr people and busting larry's proverbial radio frequencies.
but at least we all have each other.
right? or are my 15 minutes of fame finally over.
We can always kick out Larry and replace him with you in the OCR panel. You have more refined tastes in music than he does anyway.
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i also want to echo zircon in that this has to be one of the most interesting ff6 guitar remixes to date.
He said it was pretty boring and was dismayed by the lack of creativity.
would changing it all that much more, REALLY improve it? there is enough interpretation and variation to keep it from being a potential OMG OMG MIDIRIP and yet it still rocks you into the ground.
Certainly a valid question. If most listeners in this community would have their way, I think most of them would prefer covers more than anything, but that's not what our community is about.
I feel it's not really an issue of changing it to improve it as that is to me one based on perhaps personal preference or taste, but rather changing it more to make that special/unique/new interpretation. I don't find that in conservative mixes (apparently neither did some of the YES votes here); nor did I find something here that matches other mixes we have passed in at least this single criteria. But we all have different viewpoints on that I guess. I agree to disagree.
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Congratulations on getting an orchestra to perform this. I actually enjoyed listening to this.
Unfortunately there's barely any arrangement here. It's quite conservative. As I have said before, this is a paramount issue for me when judging a submission to a site that's supposed to be about arrangements. I want to hear and feel a new interpretation whether it is something that I personally like or not is not really relevant. I want to hear a recomposition, a new light shed - especially on a theme this beloved.
So, yes there are production issues here and I totally agree with what has been said before me. There is also an under-rehearsed feel, but to me these points are less important. The flubbs also do stick out but I kind of like the charm this brings. We don't expect orchestral recordings matching LSO or the like.
If this had more liberal expansion and interpretation of the arrangement and indeed orchestration I could pass this despite the current flaws, but as is it's a NO.
Congrats again for your efforts, this was an entertaining listen.
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This has certainly got that jam feel to it…yep, that spur of the moment, improvisational, really fun to record, not as fun to listen to on playback feel.
Exactly.
In addition, Dan is right on. I don't know what more I can add without just repeating what was just said prior.
A fun listen, for what it is though. Expand your ideas/concept/arrangement, give it your own interpretation next time.
NO
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Arrangement is too conservative and basic. Please expand on the ideas, interpret the mix as your own. I have little to judge on your creativity based on this.
Production is pretty bland. Reason is capable of a lot and here I don't hear any interesting fx processing or production values to spice up the mix. The result is a fairly dry sound and what larry noted as sounding like stock sounds.
Definitely post your works in our WIP forum to get more feedback before you submit. Keep at it and I hope to hear more from you soon.
NO
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My main problem with this mix is the mixing is pretty messy. Levels are all over the place. The leads are so thin, as if you over EQ'd them and put some high pass filter on the entire mix. There's absolutely no body in this mix. Over trebled, thin, quiet leads, with semi loud bass and drums. There's no middle and bottom frequencies. This results in a very sparse, and thin sounding mix.
Might be just me, but some of the notes the piano hits earlier on in the mix don't sit well with me either. They sound off.
Decent arrangement, but the execution is just severely lacking. This needs a lot of polish and a reassesment of the concept. It's overly long with not many hooks in here. I would cut out about 4 minutes of this and focus on the best parts of it. Fade out ending is also rather abrupt and not pulled off well.
NO
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Yeah what vig said. You can hear the strings trying to ramp up on rather short notes. I'd try another articulation if you aren't able to edit your string envelopes. In addition everything sounds very muddy and dark. Which is good and all, but not in this context. I think there needs to be some higher frequencies, not to mention some EQ work to compensate for how muddy this sounds. As has been noted, the leads should stand out more.
The beats are indeed nice, but they are so repetitive, almost loopish.
Work on the concept more, and have the mix develop to some extent. I almost felt like it just kept repeating the same thing over and over and over by the end point. Promising, but it's not quite there yet. As is, is a NO from me.
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Larry is overly harsh, but he is correct. I know this theme by heart and this is a very basic arrangement. The samples, processing and production are also quite basic.
I'm not really digging the delayed sounding beats either.
Bottom line I think you need to go back to the drawing board on this. The composition and arrangement is too basic - and the presentation is equally unfulfilled.
Please check out the mixing for free guide in our Remixing forum. I think you can get much further with some of the free software there than with this FL demo.
But as is, this should could have arguably gotten the form email. NO Override
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I didn't actually hear the radio stream, so I'm not sure what the context of that was? Both of them are friends of mine. They were just joking around on air, in response to me constantly saying larry is "smelly." Lesson #1, never listen to larry. Lesson #2 Larry can never come up with any good jokes/liners, his always confuse people. Lesson #3 He's a chump.
Oh and he smells of swine too.
Anyway, I'm gonna try to start work on this mix this week. It's going to be difficult since there's really not much to work with in the source material. Hopefully I can do something interesting with it.
Kyle, I'll get back to you on the stuff ASAP.