DarkSim

Happy Birthday Emu!

Flexstyle showed me this awesome open-source Worms clone, and the bamboo/jungle theme was ripe for the remixing. http://soundcloud.com/darksim/hogs-of-war What you reckon?

Hooray for under-represented games being remixed! And the Turbografx as well? Bonus points The intro to this is great! I was expecting some more 80s style synth rock, but then it kinda dries up and the synth you have going throughout is pretty cheesy! Definitely change that, as well as trying a few different synths within the song. The drums could use some beefing up, as could the guitar. There's some nice scratching effects in there that could stand being much louder as well! You already know it's pretty sparse so I'm sure you'll sort that out later, but for a start, it's pretty decent. Try and get more of it to sound like the intro, and I think it'll turn out nicely!

Hadyn's orchestral remix of this source reminded me of this remix, so I just thought I'd drop in and say this is incredible, and you should check it out if you haven't already!

Giving this a first listen at version 4 - sounds pretty tight at the moment, however it seems to be lacking something. For a start, it's got a real "concert hall" feel, which is probably what you were going for, but it kinda sounds like there's a little too much reverb on things. At times the soundscape feels very flat, without too many highs, and things aren't downright muddy, but they're also not as clear as they could be. The drums I'm torn on. The kit is nice, however I think some of the patterns are a bit boring towards the end, and could pack significantly more of a punch by using more open hats and a more dynamic kick and snare pattern. At the moment it sounds more like a canter than a gallop, if you get me! The final chorus is also pretty flat - it sounds like it's been copy/pasted from the previous one, so doesn't really give it that climactic feel, and the ending notes sound pretty rushed. With the final notes, you can go off time and slow it right down, get some high attack on that final note and then come in for a big orchestral hit (timpani rolls leading up to it?) to finish on a higher note, rather than the downer it ends on now (bit strange to end on that note after such a happy song). Hopefully that gives you some clear points to work on and improve!

Hokay, so, let's have a listen! Sounds smoother overall, but there are still some rough edges that need ironing out on the production side. Still not too convinced about those bells at the start, sorry! They just sound a little exposed as they are. Some more reverb or less bitcrushing, or a different method of distortion could work better. The choir at the end could do with a longer release, as it stops abruptly (easy fix). The bass from the organ (did you add a high-cut filter?) is quite loud, I just did a frequency analysis in Audacity and it looks like it's around 500Hz. There's a gaping hole in the spectrum for the rest of the song though after the organ disappears, that could probably be filled by something else, maybe a return of the organ, or some other pad. The bass lacks a lot of power - is the kick overwhelming it? Try and boost the frequency of the kick at around 100Hz and cut it from the bass at 100Hz if it's being troublesome. Other than that, I love the new melodies you've incorporated, and the soundscape works well - it's got a very floaty, uplifting feel to it. Keep working at it!

I ENDORSE THIS Yeah it's seriously good stuff mate, very impressed!

Yeah those high frequencies in the stuttered synth are a little harsh on the ears, but damn this is a cool track! It's absolutely crying out for some vocals though so try and get someone to collab with you on this one. I like the sound clips, and don't think they'd sound out of place if there was someone rapping over the rest of the track.

OK I'm not familiar with the source but I'll give some production comments. First impressions are that you have some pretty nice sound design and ideas going on, however round about the 1 minute mark I was expecting that drone in the background to stop as the melody type thing (I assume it's the melody as it's quite ambient) came in. That drone HAS to stop at some point - it's present throughout the whole piece and I don't know how you can listen to that when you're mixing and not get annoyed with it! I can understand it in a build up but knock it off after a while! The auto filtered "dubstep" parts of this are way too quiet in the mix, and in fact barely audible in places. If you get rid of the drone then you can use the frequency space to put these synths in, and they'll have much more room to breathe, and it would actually work really well. I definitely think you should hold off labelling this as dubstep because it's lacking the majority of the structure that makes dubstep what it is. As an electronic track I think it's a great start, however that drone needs to go, and the track needs much more variation overall. Without a clear melody line, the texture of the track needs to constantly evolve and remain interesting. You have a really nice start, but everything after 1 minute seems to be the same (I know it's not, but it feels like it is), so try and work on the structure a bit more, with clear points where the mix is darker/lighter and evolving as it progresses.

Weaksauce 1 part ketchup, 9 parts water. Serve with boiled potatoes. Chiptune Madness A traditional British dish, take deep fried strips of potato (oven-cook optional for the health conscious), and some cherry and menthol lozenges: Bake inside a NES console for 45 minutes until gooey. Serve hot or cold, and remember it doesn't taste quite as good as it did the first time.

Sounding better already, however this just makes me want to make an electro remix of this source now! See if you can add some more delay to the bells and piano to give it a more natural echoey feel, rather than repeating the same notes (you could use 2 delay modules on the same track, one for the short delay and one for the long). Sucks about the burglary, that must have been a strange feeling when you went to get some food/toilet and a load of electrical goods were missing! Hope you catch 'em! Thanks man!

Yeah this is pretty damn awesome! Absolutely LOVE the Mining Melancholy breakdown, but I reckon you could make that melody/arp part last a couple more bars before the kick comes back in, and maybe get in the main mining melancholy melody momentarily. Also try changing up the synths a little - they do get a little boring towards the end. Try filtering in a really thick saw, you know what I'm talking about. Classic trance style. You'll get a really euphoric ending that way. Solid stuff right here though, great work!

Probably my favourite source tune ever, so YOU BETTER DO IT JUSTICE OK?!?! Interesting choice of synths at the start - the bitcrushed bell thing isn't really working for me, I think there's too much downsampling going on there and it's detracting from the character of the sound too much. There may also be a little too much detuning on the pad synth, resulting in a slight clashing. This is especially prevalent when the organ comes in - just not sure an organ (at least one that prominent - a nice mellow one with not much low end might work perfectly) has a place in your current soundscape. I do like the trancey style arps you have, and the bells once they're not being crushed sound cool, maybe add a little more delay to them (try ping pong delay to get a nice stereo effect). The piano sounds pretty decent, and the saw synth lead also sounds good. The percussion is sequenced well, and has some nice variation, but could do with sounding a bit more cohesive - the hat is quite exposed as it is, whereas the snare sounds far back in the mix. Try some other reverb options and EQ on the drums, and an open hat or some reverse cymbal action wouldn't go amiss just to give the groove a bit more flow. I kinda get the feeling you did the intro, then as you were working on it, you evolved the sound without going back to check if the intro still sounded good with what you ended up with. I think if you redo the first minute of the song based on the feel of the rest of the song, you'll have a much better remix here. Detailed crits cos I like the source... good luck and have fun with the mix

Alright, nice vocals! Solid backing from Flexstyle creates a great soundscape here, however there are parts that sound a bit empty, and I think that creates a strange feel to the song. Particularly the part leading up to "you gotta help me fix..." (basically the whole part from "You see sky...") just sounds too quiet and completely out of character for the song. One other thing I'm not a fan of is the note you lead off with when you sing "...siiiiiide". It just sounds off to me... maybe intentionally to make it sound more interesting, however for the chilled feel of the song it doesn't sit right with me. Try pitching it up a few semitones and/or doing a different vocal harmony there, and I'd definitely change the pre-chorus mixing to something a little more prominent and you should be good to go

Yes, and don't forget to carry her off like Princess Ruto either

Finally! I've been waiting for this to be posted since I heard it in the WIP forums. I have the last version you posted there and looking at my iTunes play count it's over 100, and #15 on my most played list. Not to mention the plays I have in my car after I burnt it to CD on an "awesome driving music" playlist! What is there to say about it? Well, I'm a big fan of Pendulum, so the style is absolutely perfect, and I've played it to friends who have thought that it WAS Pendulum, so there can be no doubt you NAILED IT with their sound. I think the vocals are incredible, and have no problem with vocoded vocals in this style, because they are actually part of the style itself, lending the vocals a synthetic quality that blends in with the instrumentation seamlessly. The drumwork is fantastic as well, especially those ride patterns in the build up, and it's got such a fat snare sound, just like Pendulum. In fact, I'd say about 40% of Pendulum's sound is the snare, so gj on that I also love the way the orchestral elements mesh with the synth sounds - it's not always easy to pick cohesive instrumentation when going between live sounding samples and synths, but this, again, is seamless. I'd have to say that I could think of absolutely nothing that would make this remix any better. Please do an album in this style! Also, now I can read the lyrics and sing along with the proper words! Yaaaaay!

Surely "A Ring and a Promise" - http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01956/ Can't believe that's not there yet!

Yeah this would be perfect credits music for a Mario Party game or something. As soon as the song starts it's ridiculously happy, and there are great synth choices throughout - I particularly like the one that sounds like a mix between a trumpet and a steel drum (like the SNES version of the theme). This is seriously good, you submitting it?

Electro-jazz, interesting! Like you said, it's very conservative, so it wouldn't pass OCR in its current state, but I do like it. It could use a bit more variation in the intro, and maybe a proper build and breakdown somewhere to give it a better structure. Depends what you want to do with it really.

Not muddy itself, just rounded as in the sound seems to be too soft... really hard to explain, but in this track I did recently, the bass at 2:15 is more what I like for this style. It needs distortion and some midrange to it to give it that punch and power.

Yeah I know what you mean about glitch, but if you look at my Fore on the Floor remix, that bassline has glitch on it, and it gives it that extra movement really easily. I like the improvements you've made so far, however that bass still sounds too "rounded" to me, and that section is a little muddy compared to the others. The intro sounds great though - did you add that harpsichord type thing, or change a synth? It's very nice. So yeah, carry on, and try and clean up the uptempo bit some more!

Seejaaaaayyyy, good to see some more stuff from you on here! Listened to this one a few times now, and whilst the ambient sections are really atmospheric and moody, the upbeat parts just aren't cutting it for me. It's the same criticism I had of your earlier stuff though - it's samples and sound design issues. Honestly, if you upgrade your synths or pick more complex sounds you'd have much better luck passing the panel! I think the judges also commented on this on your last remix. If you don't/can't upgrade, then try using a ton of automation on the synths. Just opening up a cutoff, or adding some extra resonance to a held note can work wonders. Also try things like (especially in the middle beat section) dBlue Glitch and some stutter effects. That's free and makes a big difference if used sparingly and tastefully. I'd also change that bass to something more aggressive with some distortion, and really twist and glitch it up to give that part more energy! Try some pitchbends on the melody synth as well, and consider changing it up for something a bit fatter (or see what it sounds like with a dirtier bass). Sounds like I'm being a bit harsh here, but I know you can take it! Feel free to pm me for more specific stuff if you want, this is good but not quite there yet!

Well spotted!

So I've been listening to loads of electro and trying to emulate the production techniques and learn new tricks to really get the track to sound huge, as well as bounce along with a nice melody and groove. Here's what I came up with: http://soundcloud.com/darksim/rapture Nailed it?