timaeus222

Actually, it's a chopped up modified version of Saturn to match my chord progression near 0:17, so the note was following my implied chord progression. 0:18 is where clearer Saturn shows up. I put the source breakdown here if you want to take a look.

Compression is commonly described whenever someone has "overcompression" from their (hard knee) limiter due to loudness forcing the limiter to push the loudest instruments down to a certain extent. There is a smart way to use compression, and that's what comes into play here. What you can do is use a compressor with certain settings to strengthen your taiko drum transients. With a fast attack, low threshold, high gain, fast release, and high ratio, you can enhance the transient, or the loudest part of a waveform---usually the drumstick impact on a snare, for example, and make your taiko drums sound louder, tighter, and stronger. You should try to stick to compression on mainly drums, but careful compression can be done on anything.

There isn't a "rule" for when you should change time signatures necessarily. I don't do it often, but it can be done subtly, like in our Metroid remix. 4/4 rhythms can be written to sound like modified 4/4 in 6/4 and 5/4 and still not be entirely obvious until you finish listening to one measure. Modulations are only easy to pull off if you do know your music theory well enough, and for those who either informally learned it or haven't learned it, it certainly will be harder for them. It only seems easy to you because you did formally learn music theory, if I recall. Besides, I was talking about synth modulations, not chordal modulations; and I didn't say it wasn't hard to do those musically creative things... I only said it wasn't easy. e.g. It's easier to write a simple song than a complex one. Writing a that uses a wide variety of instruments and vast music theory knowledge isn't necessarily hard nor easy, and writing a timbrally complex song may or may not be hard or easy depending on what timbres are used and how the arrangement is written, but writing a musically and timbrally complex song is certainly hard, or at least impressive since it combines two important skills: music theory knowledge and sound selection intuition. inb4 generic remark---you don't just need a great attention to detail. You need the experience to back it up. Besides, I included PriZm's wording, which had the words "mind-bending complexity". I'd expect something mind-bending to be pretty intense in that regard... I actually like Dream Theatre, but not because of the complexity---because of their sound selection. Their lead singer's voice has that grittiness that fits in well with the tone of the guitars, which fits well with their synth leads, pads/drones, etc., for example, and that's partly why I like their music. I never said complexity was the only factor for interest, but I also never said sound selection wasn't a factor either; it definitely is. Well of course, he's a film composer. He's almost "supposed" to know the ins and outs of composing orchestral. It's a "necessity" for a film composer... However, that's one of his only pieces I know of that actually changes dynamics, tempo, and atmospheric feel that often and that well, besides maybe "I Am The Sentinel" or the condensed Orc Wars opening theme. I've honestly never heard anything as compellingly arranged as that from anyone except maybe zircon. Just because you know how to use an orchestral library well doesn't mean you have the inspiration to think of those musical orchestral progressions, unless you studied orchestral music while learning and somehow you picked up exactly how those people wrote their songs in the process.

The taikos seem to be buried under the bass, the first upfront sawtooth arp, the zourna-esque thing (probably a bagpipe), etc. They need stronger compression. I recommend getting Cytomic The Glue. And better headphones will get you pretty far.

Welcome back! =D I'd say at 1:26, you could probably try shifting the reverse cymbal back a half measure and add a semi-loud slightly ambient high end hit, like a clap or a woodblock or similar. Yeah, the snare should be snappier, but it doesn't have to be overly strong. Maybe a soft snare layered with a short clap or something like that. The kick could be less pitch-envelope-like, but that's just personal preference. 2:36 seems to have an atmosphere that wants there to be a kick starting off soft and crescendoing until 2:48, or at least have a mini-buildup.

Hehe. The goal is reached! Let's keep it up!

Simple. Just learn a lot and you'll be able to recognize what's hard to do and realize what's impressive. It's not easy to write a song of "mind-bending complexity, with time signatures changing every bar, modulations, tempo changes, etc." at all. A simple song is much easier to write. Too simple, and it gets boring. Too complex, and people just say "cool". So it's pretty hard to write something people like that happens to also be hard to make. ...And this song was even harder to make... and I have no idea how this guy's ideas flowed out like that, but they worked awesomely. Yeah, I do agree, hence the two separate names for those genres. It just so happens that dubstep was the start of wobble basses, and electro-house adapted the dubstep quality, so it seems.

Yes, that's why I said that I still respect the song and person if I like it, whether it was hard to make or not. Hard efforts to make something just make me respect them even more.

Updated bass mixing. The bass instrument should be a bit clearer now (you can hear the plucking when applicable and it's louder). Same link.

I actually do, because the harder it was to make, the more respect I have for the person's efforts, even if I don't like the song. And if I like it anyway, I still respect them. Except Electro House is similar to Dubstep in that it uses wobble basses anyways. You know, like this.

...Like ? =) 'Cause that's the generic basic type. It's not the good type. No. He said thinking dubstep is entirely terrible is ignorant because it's not just basic wobbles all the time. There are people who know how to make better wobbles than that. It's not entirely an acquired taste, though. There are just different types of wobbles that are harder to describe than others. Sometimes they aren't even basic LFO wobbles. Sometimes they're vocaloid FM basses (which are way harder to make, btw), FM bitcrushed "yah" basses, etc. If they're made well, subconsciously they might sound good, or they don't sound unpleasant. If you don't like a specific dubstep song, then the wobbles probably weren't well-constructed or well-implemented (either too resonant or too much treble). It is. Dubstep is an umbrella genre for anything with wobble basses: Drumstep, Electro House, "Darkstep" (as sci calls it), and others that I can't think of. 1. Yep. That's why I appreciate it when someone synthesizes their own wobbles... unique ones. 2. For sure. This has dubstep elements (0:47 - 1:18), and it's still melodic. Then again, I'm a picky person, so I guess that helped me make it work. You'd almost never think Dubstep can fit in with Funk. In short, Dubstep is only bad when it's made badly. It's up to the producer to tame resonances and select sounds carefully.

It may be kinda subtle, but the tightness of the instruments needed work. For example, the first lead guitar fell behind a little and the 0:19 right-panned instrument was just off.

Of course. You could also go to the EWQL site and try out their mic examples.

It's a good idea to use the close-mic samples and then use your own reverb consistently to help it blend better with other instruments, if you happen to be doing a hybrid orchestral song. Otherwise, try mixing close-mic and stage, perhaps 80-20 or 70-30 or so. The reverb will stack pretty quickly. Try testing that on the EWQL site demo. Compression (the good kind) is also a great idea for any instruments that need extra power. I recommend Cytomic's The Glue for strings ("Full Parallel" with a lightened threshold-gain relationship plus "Smooth Strings" works pretty well for spiccato, for example), and if you get good at it, you can start crafting your own presets for other non-percussive parts of the orchestra (there are loads of drum compression presets already) that ultimately are based on really good quality algorithms. And try that chart mickomoo found.

C'mon son.

Sounds good. The only thing I'd say is that at 3:00 the timpani or bass drum is oddly positioned.

The timings on every instrument seems to be off from each other. The frequency range is also pretty narrow. =o

I love the uplifting nature of this. Really fun remix, smooth guitar work, and awesome job! =D

Phew, started halfway through the week, almost done. Might even be better than my last entry, who knows. Definitely more adventurous in terms of composition.

Hm... you might wanna try to get that cymbal a bit louder; it gets buried much of the time, and I think it makes the song sound more overcompressed than it actually is. The piano fits in fine, but sample quality might be brought up as an issue at 1:08 based on hearing the lower notes. The lower notes are also a bit muddy. 1:53 has the most evident example of the amount of overcompression you currently have. Also, the lead at 2:36 and on might have a little bit too much treble. The kick sounds better, and the acoustic snare works a bit better now.

I hear a bit of overcompression throughout. Not sure if an acoustic kit is necessarily the best way to go; after optimal processing, I imagine the snare would "sound" overcompressed, even though it might not be. I think you could make the snare work anyway, but the kick should be stronger and more thumpy. The kick might be one of the current causes for the overcompression though, so be careful on it.

Skrillex-style Dubstep. The kind of dubstep that some listeners might diss. It might help if you lower the resonance on those wubs a little bit and use less pitch-rising wubs. You might find some inspiration for that here.

Pretty cool vibe. I liked the bubbly lead. Coulda sworn I heard a sneeze at 1:53. xD

Do you think our ears experience a similar effect as how our voices can sing better and more stably in the evening? (Disregarding the constant EQing)

The difference between what I said and what you said are the extremes. Yes, it's electronic music, but those genres aren't the same genres at all. They all have different drum rhythms. One of the characteristic parts of any genre is the drum rhythm, a lot of the time. They only work together if there are proper transitions. I will say that Death Metal, Power Metal, and Folk Metal are similar enough, but your earlier example of Metal, then Dubstep, then Country was too extreme to be practical. You can go Metal and then Dubstep+Metal fusion, but we both know shifting to Country really doesn't make any sense. That actually worked for me on the few times that I tried that. Gunstar Heroes, for example.