timaeus222

@Silverpool You can drag images from your computer onto "Drag files here to attach, or choose files..." in the posting box.

Well, in general, you should check the impedance on the headphones you choose to buy. If it's large, like 250 ohms, then you would need a headphone amp to get the volume to a normal level. As always, I would actually recommend you save up for the Beyerdynamic DT-880, 32-ohm version if possible. I've been using them for about 5 years now (got them on sale for 51% off), and they have been working especially well. They really helped with mixing bass and upper treble with relative ease; they are semi-closed back, so they don't leak too much bass (unlike open-back), but also don't make it too muffled (unlike closed-back). Something that I couldn't mix properly on my previous headphones (Grado SR-60i) in less than 6 hours, I managed to mix on these in 30 minutes. They give an honest stereo field. Some headphones spread things out too wide... They give an honest representation of the amount of reverb that is actually going on. All of the other headphones I have tried previously exaggerate the reverb to some extent. So those are some of the things you could consider. Here's an example of something I've written using those headphones. I haven't tried the Sony MDR-7506 before, but I would suppose that they are alright. Here's a frequency distribution for three headphones to compare: For a cheaper option than the Beyers, I also recommend checking out the Grado SR60i (open-back); those are sadly discontinued, but you may find them on amazon for roughly $80, or the SR-60e edition should also be as good. You can see from the graph that they are definitely fuller than the MDR-7506, particularly below the midrange and in the upper treble region. I still have them today. Note: yeah, they can get kinda itchy, but once I took the time to break them in, they did help with bass and treble mixing. I used them to write this at one point.

I think I've done a polyrhythm before; an example is at 1:59 - 2:15 in this mix, I have triplet eighths (on the arpeggio) against regular eighth notes (the piano). Hope it helps!

The arrangement was super innovative! I loved how all the different contours made the same melody sound new, and ilp0's performances were on point.

This is a kickin' arrangement! I agree that the drums lack a bit of production punch, but mainly the arrangement flowed pretty well and I never felt the need to skip around. The drum fills were also a great addition.

Wow, excellent work! Really nails the mountainous vibe you were going for! If I had to nitpick, it felt a bit muddy. I liked how the oud (pretty sure it's an oud) fit in though.

Merry Christmas guys, here is a Mega Man Zero 2 Greatest Memories video, showcasing my favorite moments in the Mega Man Zero 2 speedrun I did a few years ago! Features music from @zircon and @WillRock: Mega Man 9 / Mega Man & Bass - 'Charge My Shot Up' (Tornado Man vs. Ground Man) by zircon ~ The Grand Robot Master ReMix Battle 2011 (OC ReMix) Mega Man 2 / Mega Man 9 - 'Showdown' (Flash Man vs. Tornado Man) by WillRock ~ OC ReMix Check out the original speedrun here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIg2ln-_MI8&list=PLDE15AB88E2FF4902

It was quite full, and memorable!

No problem; actually, that's what has been giving me trouble too for most of when I've been writing music. I write linearly from beginning to end. Sometimes I would have months of breaks between writing a particular remix because I just wait for the inspiration to continue it (but that's just because those didn't have deadlines). Nowadays---and this is an ongoing effort---if I am, say, 90% there on the sound design, I put on hold the hunt for the perfect sounds and just write, knowing that my future self will be able to polish the sounds further later on. The composition, however, is not something I trust my future self to be able to remember, so that's why I would want to get as much of it written out in one session.

I mean, I get the intent of the whispered vocals, but I would rather they were simply sung, y'know? Kinda awkward that they were whispered loudly. Otherwise I think the vocals actually make sense here and DO aid the soundscape.

Sweet! I love how the melody is broken up like that. Most people don't change the melodic contour that much for classics.

I didn't realize it before, but what I've been working on actually works out pretty well for OCCv11. I'll send mine in now!

I would say mostly yes; although I am also very much a sound design guy, these days I am OK with using placeholder sounds that are almost what I hear in my head, and I'll just, for instance, leave a note to myself in the DAW to polish the sound further later on. The more important thing is to get the idea down as much as possible, in such a way that you can visualize what you meant to write, in terms of (mainly) composition and (in part) the feel of the soundscape. Generally, being able to visualize the final result is easier when you have more of the actual composition done than if you have more of the sound design parts done.

That's fair. Yeah, I usually realize what I learned after-the-fact, and so, writing that down, or associating it with a particular piece of music (by reflecting on what I learned from writing that piece of music), helps me remember that technique. Even though I don't necessarily have a clear path on what I mean to learn, it tells me what my progress has been. As for being able to write music with "zero theory knowledge", I know what you mean, but it's probably ambiguous wording there. Even though I have no advanced formal theory knowledge (I had basic theory knowledge from my piano teacher and 6 years of choir), I've actually learned in practice what I have never formally learned in advanced theory classes. In other words, I don't know enough advanced theory to express formally the most advanced things I intuitively construct in my head. That's probably what you mean---I wouldn't be able to write what I can write now, if I had literally no theory knowledge in any way whatsoever, formal or intuitive.

Are you keeping yourself active with making music, or have there been long breaks where you haven't been able to do any music? Each day I try to do at least a little with something musical, whether it's sound design or actual composition, to keep my brain music-oriented. That might also help if there were times where you were forgetting some things you've learned before.

Maybe you could make a list of what you've learned, and brainstorm what you can work on. I did that back in the day. I kinda stopped doing it because I don't feel I've learned much new stuff lately, but here it is: http://tproductions.comeze.com/educationallog.php

Is it any surprise that I still give my consent explicitly?

Hey man, Fortunately, my dad happened to set up a brand new laptop from work with Windows 10, so I now have a new laptop, OMG. I still can't provide vocal/choir stuff though since that stuff is at home within Omnisphere.

Update: I finally purchased a 3DS XL (old model), and a copy of Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, and I am LOVING every minute of it!

Same here. Some more cash for you, but @HoboKa, come join the Discord channel. It's a great way to chat in more of a 'live' setting, and hopefully it'll help you feel like less of an 'outsider', as you call it. I've yet to find a more friendly community than OCR.

You might be going insane here. #RealityCheck - FWIW, I'm not afraid to use orchestral instruments in my music. Just because I'm not totally confident in what I can do with them, and just because I don't usually write orchestral music, doesn't mean I should discourage myself from using those instruments. In fact, I use them anyway, for the sake of learning how to use them... - Furthermore, if you have "poor tools" as you say, you don't have to shoot for "stylistically fake". That's not the point; the point is to do the best you can with what you have, meaning you can make something stylistically realistic with so-called "poor tools". - Remixer's privacy is more important than you think... It's important to have the rejection up for people to see, so that the public can know that the Judges aren't just some black box group of people who put up mixposts and hide all the rejections. In fact, if they did that, aspiring composers won't have examples of possible critique to be on the lookout for in their own mixes. However, the Judges don't want to offend those who got NOed, so the least they can do is omit the link to the submission by default unless requested otherwise by the remixer him/herself. I DO think that's fair...

Quoted for truth...

Hey man, Although I would love to help, I done goofed and spilled zip fizz over the laptop I'm using in my dorm room, so I can only write music in Thanksgiving and Christmas (when I'm able to get home). I might be able to help, but it'd be quite hard to do it as soon as possible.

I see what you mean, but you may be assuming here. Maybe you're not saying it directly towards me, but personally, I actually don't simply listen for chord changes and progressions (although those are two things I listen for), and I do listen for textural changes as a factor in deciding "is this too repetitive". Being a self-proclaimed sound design nerd, that is something I do all the time. So I'm aware that repetition in trance music, at least compositionally, is common (it's in the name!). But in comparing trance to jazz, what I'm saying is in the relative sense, i.e. that there is typically less compositional repetition (i.e. copy-paste of notes) in typical jazz, compared to typical trance. It's not to say that trance is "automatically boring, neeeext"; as music enthusiasts, we should be giving all genres a fair shake. [I didn't want to pick something like ambient music, because I've written ambient music that isn't as repetitive as one might expect, and I didn't pick "minimal" music because (i) I don't think I've even heard of it, and (ii) now that I hear the genre name, it doesn't sound particularly descriptive (and thus I wouldn't choose that off the top of my head as a genre to classify something).] ----- That clarification aside, yes, I do think the particular genre carries its own way of presenting structure, and that should be taken into account when evaluating, "is this too repetitive?". It shouldn't just be, "is this too repetitive for me?", but rather, "is this too repetitive for people who listen to that genre?". However, I do think that what you're saying is an ideal. In principle, it's what we would want to see on the Judges' panel, but I do think we should allow for those kinds of nitty gritty discussions to work themselves out (seeing as how each Judge may specialize in a given set of genres better than other genres, there will be debate at some point).

First off, I do want to point out that what @Gario said in here seems to just be a typo. I listened through the track, and I think he just meant 0:18 - 1:36 vs. 1:36 - 2:54. THAT would be a pretty significant repetition and THAT makes a lot of sense to me. And it isn't just the idea of repetition that's the problem---it's the collection of textures, expression, contour, . . . that feels too same-y the second time through. If that wasn't apparent the first time, @HoboKa, hopefully that clears something up. Yes, I do see what you mean there. And that boils down to, "what is the point of this particular music?". The purpose of video game music WITHIN a video game is to keep the gameplay exciting, match the mood, what have you, and if it had an ending at an improper moment in the gameplay, that wouldn't feel right. And so, looping is an easy way to make sure that doesn't happen. That's fine, in that context. With "actual music", i.e. music that is meant to be listened to as complete, standalone tracks, satisfying endings are preferred, and repetition is disfavored. Of course, repetition keeps familiarity with the musical content, but eventually it gets taxing, and the Judges regard repetition in a general manner, trying to predict how long someone would need before they skip to a new song, let's say. And that varies from Judge to Judge---someone who writes trance music might be more numb to repetition than someone who writes jazz. There are inherent assumptions as to how repetitive is too repetitive, and that's really the contention you have here. A non-Judge might not be actively watching out for blatant copy-paste, whereas mods and Judges would (or should) actually keep that in the back of their mind. That's a fair remark. But even Simon himself has gotten nicer over the years, in case that wasn't clear from the more recent America's Got Talent appearance he made this year. Along similar lines, Liontamer has also been passing stuff more recently that I might personally not be totally in agreement with, but that I would argue is a good thing (from the perspective of the listener, that is). I've never met him face to face either, but I definitely enjoyed the OCR Podcasts I managed to get onto with him there, at least. In general, as I keep suggesting to all the aspiring or struggling composers here, you gotta have a thick skin. Just keep in mind that you gotta read through the Judge comments with some scrutiny in the sense that they're made from a human's perspective, and differences in perspective will arise. Fix what you agree with, and see if you come to a better agreement. It's an iterative process (and here I'm referring to any remixer), and by being self-aware and honest with yourself as I mentioned, you can eventually spot your own mistakes and improve on those without simply submitting as soon as you get the chance (not trying to accuse you here). That will give you a better chance than making small tweaks and subbing again with little community input----that's what mods are for! Hey, I'm glad you got that out of your system (or some of it anyway). No matter what though, asking more questions, IMO, is better than simply getting frustrated internally and keeping it to yourself. I don't speak for the community, but I think that as a whole, we are generally willing to put up with "rabblerousers", and "shit-shows" as you put it.