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mirev

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    FF8-Wandering Musician

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    http://www.esnips.com/displayimage.php?pid=32972109

    The intro to a song I'm working on.

    UPDATED:WIP:

    http://soundcloud.com/journeyjay/wandering-musician_draft

    UPDATE:WIP2:

    http://snd.sc/vvXTfU

    11/11/11 UPDATE:

    http://snd.sc/u1sf8D

    MASTERING-EQ_FINAL11/12/2011:

    http://soundcloud.com/journeyjay/journeywithamachinegun

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Final Copy V2:

    http://soundcloud.com/journeyjay/jou...he-machine-gun

    V1:

    http://soundcloud.com/journeyjay/jou...machine-gun-11

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Original:

    The Man With the Machine Gun: FFVIII

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    i can't believe it's not techno!

    so yeah, this is a pretty interesting take on the source here in terms of style, albeit still rather conservative. some of the part-writing actually seems a little 'overhumanized' to me, and there are a few sour notes in the arrangement. the soundscape is pretty thin as well, there's definitely room for some lush background chords or something.

    the sampled wind instruments are all over the map in terms of quality, but the one problem the all share is mechanical attack/release. try tweaking (or even automating :wink:) the ASDR values on your samples and see if you can't get a more fluid sound.

    i really like the idea and style of this mix, but it has a bit of a ways to go in terms of production, and the arrangement needs to go more places. there are some good variations, but there's not a lot of momentum or build to keep the listener interested. you have some great creative ideas, so keep at it! :D

    If only I knew how to do this in Cubase.

    So, I guess I've got enough input for now. I'm placing this project on hold for the time being, I'll come back with a release in a week or so.

    The Man With the Machine Gun: FFVIII

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    Another Update, this is still not my final cut, just another semi-final. I've added two short segments which finalize the composition. (IE, two verses from the source were not yet included in my track, but now have a part). I still have to adjust for some timing issues, and cut down on the business at certain intervals, but i think it's starting to round itself out. Let me know what you think.

    http://soundcloud.com/mirev/prison-wanderers5-5

    The Man With the Machine Gun: FFVIII

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    Thanks for all of the support guys, I spent the last 12 hours grinding through tiny changes that I think add a positive feel to the track, which I wouldn't have been able to do without all of your wonderful help. My latest revision can be found at the link below, and I think it sounds good enough to be considered my Semi-Final mix. Because of this, I would appreciate the most critical analysis your willing to give on it, so I may make my last changes based on your opinions before releasing a final cut.

    Changes in this version:

    a. The background that follows throughout the track has a reverb, is not as intrusive, and has grown more "real" sounding than synth.

    b. Added a mild ambience track which utilizes a sort of "bells" or "Crystals" type sound that I think complements the mix.

    c. Small edits to the guitar as a few notes were merging into other sounds and it didn't sound to good.

    d. The ending was tweaked a little to have the instruments end there tracks at close(but still separate) intervals.

    e. A violin track was added to keep the song fresher than previously.(I can't remember if I had it in my last revision.)

    f. Small tweaks here and there(Slowed some things down slightly, which involved redoing the track :P)

    So let me know what you think, I really like it.

    http://soundcloud.com/mirev/prison-wanderers5-3

    The Man With the Machine Gun: FFVIII

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    From what I hear, Reaper is at the very least an equal to FL. Zircon gave a rave review of it, claiming that if he wasn't already entrenched in FL he would've been a Reaper user. Yeah, it's one person's opinion, but that person is Zircon so it's probably accurate.

    Reaper is also cheaper & legal (to a point) :wink:.

    Yay! I solved my problem. Turn out I had to disable a "Feature"(pfft) in cubase called Snap, which supposedly automates what it thinks your going to select, so now I can make loops, although I'm preferring not to on sets that are 5 or less notes(IE Tenor Sax VST)

    Here is the latest and close to final(in my opinion) version of my mix, which does have note inconsistencies in two of the instruments, with one instrument I had to strip out entirely until I can fix its composition. I think it sounds much more "full" compared to the others, and for whatever genre you would call it, I think it fits in nicely. Let me know what you think.

    P.S. For the one who was considering making an album, let me throw in my two cents. Firstly, I think it's a great idea, but secondly, I think it should be an entire recreation of the Final Fantasy 8 Soundtrack, with a mix of every song from the game. That of course, would take a lot of time and collaboration(Not to mention the original album was four hours long and spanned 4-5 discs), I think it would be a great achievement that could become a major stepping stone in the Video Game Mixers Universe.

    Without further ado, my latest mix of "The man with the machine gun", let me know what you think, I'm loving the help you guys have for me, it's assisting a lot, and could use any comments you have.

    http://soundcloud.com/mirev/prison-wanderers5

    EDIT: I've tried Fl Studio(Not in a sense...legally), but I found it hard to work with because it seemed very...compact, hard to organize, and with waaaaaay to many boxes. Everything was in a new box, while on cubase you've got two boxes, the program box, and the composition box. Cubase also uses light colors and is strait forward, making it fast and easy. When I looked at FL Studio, it was dark and the lists on the left side were so big that they bugged out the graphical interface. Now, I probably would have found a skin I liked, and a way to feel good working with FL Studios, but for me there was a major learning curve. On cubase, except for that whole snap feature, I learned it within a few hours. So in my opinion, Cubase is better.

    NOTE: Cubase is reaaaaaally bloated, so if you don't have 4 gigs of ram(Preferably 8 gigs), and a smoking processor, don't go over 6 tracks.

    The Man With the Machine Gun: FFVIII

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    Mmm... I'm not sure if there's a place dedicated to DAW options. There probably is, but it's never been my concern.

    I'm sure Cubase can do whatever you need it to do, since it's pretty much top of the line stuff, from what I hear. FL can get the job done, but it certainly isn't free - only the demo is free, which is a pain since it doesn't allow you to save your projects. Reaper is probably a better choice if you're looking for a free product - it has a fully functioning demo that never expires. You need a license to publish anything on it, but it's quite functional.

    I'm stuck with Reason 3.0, which doesn't have nearly the functionality of these other programs. Reason is a pretty reliable sequencer as well, though... it just can't use any common soundfonts, vst/vsti plugins or the like, only Reason specific 'refills'. Alas.

    Um... I lost track of where we... Oh! A new version :)

    Wooooooaaaaaaah... this is WAY different from the older version, there. Well, let's see what we've got, here...

    That drum set is annoying. It just seems to get in the way, as it is. Personally, I would simply remove the drums entirely, since the ambient nature of the track really speaks for itself (and it would change the quality of the off-timing that's rampant throughout the track). They just... don't fit. You need something a whole lot less intrusive, if you want drums in this (shakers, light Japanese percussion, all hats, etc.. something that isn't so heavy).

    The synths really stick out like a sore thumb, here. They just don't mesh well with the more 'real' instruments you've got going in here. Mix them more into the background and add some reverb (not much, but some) so they blend with the other instruments better.

    The 'real' instruments need some humanization, here. Personally, without the drums I feel the off-kilter effect of the beat helps in this regard, but changing the dynamics to imitate a person playing the instruments would help a great deal more. Playing with the attacks and releases of the samples helps, too.

    I like the clarity of the instruments in this track. I don't hear clipping and the instruments are quite distinguishable, there. Nice work on that.

    I like the complex nature of the texture, here. Tasty texture doesn't make an OCRemix yet, though, so keep at it. As an FYI, though, the Laguna mix that I posted is actually a finished product (not a WIP, like No Escape suggested) that should get to (and hopefully through) the panel sometime next week. I submit it on March 10th, and they're on March 9th, right now, so we'll see if that's the bar we're all trying to reach :mrgreen:.

    Thanks for the info, it is helping a ton. When I removed the drums entirely, it seems to remove a lot of the inconsistencies throughout the track. I'll learn how to add re verb to vst's, as that's all I'm using.

    The Man With the Machine Gun: FFVIII

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    Ok, I'll shoot a quick review as well. One things no is touching here is timing. This song's timing gets mega sloppy in a few parts, and it's pretty obvious (the biggest one being at 0:47). It's impressive that you play your leads (like me), but you gotta get it down tight. Also, as the song progressed, I got that very familiar ad lib feeling (thats how I record my leads generally), but not the warm and fuzzy one. It sounds like you "one taked" it with whatever setting you were using and picked the best one to keep. Some parts have good solid harmonies while others are almost dissonant. Don't be afraid to break it up into different tracks (I don't even have the chops to play a track full through on any instrument). This is one of my more negative reviews, but I think if you're like me, it'll help you out immensely. I didn't really step up my game until I heard The Unholy Wars by Sixto. So I'll say keep at it and impress me with your revisions :smile:

    Thanks for the info, I'm very aware of the timing and the sloppiness, one of the things that needs to be repaired. Also, the reason I'm playing it all out is because Cubase 5 won't let me select parts of a track in the millisecond range, and wants to grab everything in half second chunks, so I can't make any loops. I've grown accustomed to this major annoyance(Which I hope I can fix in the settings somewhere), so if you know how to make cubase's selection tool more sensitive, please let me know.

    The Man With the Machine Gun: FFVIII

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    background sounds is def something that needs to be added.

    I think it could still come up in volume just a little bit. I feel this version gets repetitive toward the end.

    I'm of the opinion that the stereo field needs to be filled out more. However you do that is up to you of course, but i would love to hear more instruments coming in from the right or left. :D

    cool track too! :)

    Thanks for the info, I've filled in the background some more and fixed a few note inconsistencies, added a few seconds to the track, brought in some new instruments, and rose the volume, along with doing some equalizing. I'd say I'm close to finished on this one, still have a few inconsistencies to repair, but I'm liking how it sounds. Let me know what you think.

    http://soundcloud.com/mirev/prison-wanderers3-1

    The Man With the Machine Gun: FFVIII

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    I'm keeping a list of how many Laguna remixes are coming out in the WIP forums, this year. I think the count is close to 8 or 9, atm... I love you, man. I can't blame anyone, though - it IS a sweeeet source to work from, lol. I'm really considering making a 'Laguna' remix album from all these remixes coming out on here.

    As for the remix itself, it's a completely different approach to the track than anyone else has taken (which took me completely by surprise, here). The quality of the sounds are pretty good and the arrangement is fairly interesting. It's like a spiritual version of the source, which is interesting and fairly enjoyable.

    The soundscape is pretty quiet on this one, although because of the sound you're trying to get out of it it's fairly difficult to fill. It does need to be filled, though - otherwise it sounds unfinished. I highly recommend filling the emptier parts with some ambient sound (trees rustling, perhaps, an animal chirping/making noise, etc.). That way the soundscape will fill out in a non-obtrusive way.

    The volume is pretty quiet, due to the soundscape. It won't get too much louder, either, if you want to keep the sound you've got going, here. A little volume with some limiting could take this to a new height, here :-).

    It's a touch repetitive, overall. While I hear all of the variations you're doing, there, the theme you use doesn't change, nor do the harmonies. It makes the piece pretty static and numbing, after a while... I personally think it's great like that as a ambient track you'd play in the background of something else, but not as something you'd sit down and really listen to on your own. The J's will hold that against you - OCR doesn't really want ambient tracks on there, if that's what you're shooting for.

    The synths+guitar are a bit lame, here, compared to the instruments you used. Fortunately they aren't too prominent, there, so it doesn't take too much from the track. Some more subtle sounds may be the way to go, there (like a few of the background synths I hear, periodically).

    I like it. Keep up the good work. It's not quite an OCR track, but it's actually pretty nice, for what it is.

    :-D

    Thanks for the constructive criticism, this is my first song that I've actually done so any information you have for me is gladly accepted.

    Here is a further developed mix, which fixes the notes and adds the second portion of the song to the melody. I'm personally trying to make it a semi-progressive mix that transitions to different instruments throughout the tune, with an abrupt fadeout at the end to conclude. I plan to add a few more background sounds to the mix and equalize the instruments so they won't over power one another. Let me know what you think.

    http://soundcloud.com/mirev/prison-wanderers2

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