timaeus222   Members

It's a nice improvement. A few new tools (like Fruity Waveshaper, for example), more memory support IIRC, a new pattern organization method, etc. Personally I think the new pattern organization is easier to use. Now you don't have to pointlessly click on the pattern in the Legacy Blocks section to be able to use the pattern (it's now a dropdown menu of patterns). It takes about a day or two to get used to, but it's helpful. You also don't have to scroll down to the last pattern in your list just to use it; you can access it from that dropdown menu which fits your screen, most likely. Workflow won't change too much otherwise, I think. I didn't think you could, but Kristina found that video. Use the FL extended memory version to get over the normal 2GB RAM limits, and yes, bridging is now automatic.

Hm, I'm thinking the snare is too resonant in the midrange, which makes it similar to a kick tone. 1:20 is where you can hear the problem best. The sidechained PWM bass may also benefit from a wide mild scoop in the mids to give the leads more room to breathe. Turning down the reverb on everything by about 2~5% should help the clarity too. Right now the crossover frequencies are overlapping a lot and creating low mids muddiness.

I'm actually emphasizing not the ability to write it all, but the ability to think of it all and then writing enough of it in before you forget it! Two mind-blowing orchestral pieces: - I actually managed to find time to recreate ~30 seconds of this one pretty decently; of course, I didn't have the same libraries, but I heard enough to rewrite it note-for-note. It was this song that let me realize the difference in quality between EWQL and LASS. What a difference $1000 makes...https://soundcloud.com/stephen-anderson/i-am-the-sentinel-credits - This guy is so pro... His bass mixing is spot on, his brass is perfectly in your face, AND he actually replied to some of my soundcloud comments.

Not bad. It would be cooler if you had more flashy trills, octave shifts, harmonic interplay, etc., but sounds pretty good.

Yeah, this is still a WIP in terms of arrangement too, but I've got a good amount of it done recently.

Makes sense; basically you're saying it sounds cohesive. Thanks.

Hey, no worries. I'm pretty new to the orchestral scene too. I can infuse orchestral instruments into my electronic music, but writing an entire orchestral piece is pretty tough. Mainly because of the many parts you have to write at once every step of the way; if only sampler engines could intelligently detect how many voices you have and distribute them to the right instruments based on pitch, right?

Something I've been working on recently for some reason that won't be revealed yet. http://soundcloud.com/timaeus222/dark-barren-world-wip

The rhythm gets bit lost in the beginning. It took me a few rewinds to figure out the time signature was 6/8 with a 5/8 at the fourth iteration. I don't want to have to tap my finger and count the beat like that just to get a groove going. Intro has just high and low brass and cinematic percussion (djembes?). Low end is muddy for the tubas and french horns, and I can't hear the individual notes. If your samples aren't doing it for you, write simpler notes for those low brass instruments. 1:08-1:56 gets really cluttered. French horn notes are bleeding into each other, and I can't distinguish the trumpet notes from the trombone notes (are you even using trumpets? Yeah, I actually had to ask). Basically, too many moving parts at the same time. It's like babysitting 3 or 4 hyper kids all with differing personalities. 1:56 sounds separate from what came before, so you'll be needing a transition there. 2:27 sounds a bit blocky to me. The straight eighth notes in the trombones and trumpets (and french horn?) disrupt the pacing a bit. 2:53-3:39 has the same problem as 1:08. Sounds to me like you're trying to use brass for everything, when you can totally use strings for some parts if you have them. This could be the inspiration you need. http://soundcloud.com/stephen-anderson/dinosaur-dna

I've decided to update my original picks too. Original post was updated as well. New picks:

Happy birthday! =D

Cosmic Sounds and I are pretty available.

Sounds like an awesome improvement from before, and now it's basically just samples that are your problem. Unfortunately that's pretty much only solvable by spending money on a sample library. Rarely are dedicated orchestral songs believable with free samples or soundfonts. This arrangement on its own would pass, but yeah, you'll need better samples to do this dedicated an orchestral remix.

Kick at 0:31 is quiet. I can kinda hear a literal click, but it's nowhere near the ideal strength. 0:52 organ definitely doesn't fit, and I haven't a clue what it's doing there. I think 1:03-1:14 sounds pretty dissonant in the wrong way. You can hear it pretty clearly because of the polyphonic saw wave you used. Speaking of which, I think that's a really plain saw wave. Needs a little more personality to its tone. Maybe some detuning and heavy vibrato. 1:22 has weird low bass notes that seem to make it muddy, and makes it worse on the rhodes at 1:26. 1:51 key change is abrupt. 1:59 pitch dropping gated effect is pretty cool. 2:28 needs more to lead into that ambient ending. Interesting concept, needs those updates.

The instruments were pretty basic, especially the percussion. The SMB1 overworld also had a wrong note. You tried to put it into a minor key for part of it, but it doesn't work. You stuck to the first OW for too long, IMO. Sounds like you did a MIDI remix and tacked on the other two in the same way. 1:08 is really jarring and there's nothing to connect the two themes. 1:56 tempo change to the new theme is really obvious. You had a good idea with trying to connect these themes together as they should be related a little, but it wasn't quite as seamless as it should be for it to be a medley with interest. Maybe it'd be better if you tried one song at a time first, and then later on when you get really familiar with these themes and transitions, you can try again.

That sounds so wrong. xD EDIT: Okay, I've made my picks. 1. Junk Man (MM7) 2. (MM9)3. Cloud Man (MM7) 4. (MM9) 5. (MM6)

I wasn't really saying that your instruments were actually from the MIDI library---they just had that type of quality. Because of the plainness of the instruments (for example, the default square lead), any song can be put together using these instruments without very much actual mixing at all since their frequency distribution is thin already. That's a sign that you need higher quality instruments if you want to do more serious compositions.

Well, simply put, the instruments are more or less generic MIDI-instrument-library-based. Basically, the sounds used are dry and plain, and very little mixing is required for this kind of song. 1:18-1:23 was pretty good sequencing though on that square lead.

The first few seconds did not contribute to the song, IMO. It felt off-tempo. Guitar sounds mechanical and definitely fake. Too many hammer-ons and portamentos. Bass guitar is too loud near the 60Hz range. Sounds like it was just instruments replacing prewritten MIDI.

My belief is that if the end result sounds good, then the song is good. Even if your instrument reads as out of phase, the overall phase cancellation result would be pretty complex, so if it still sounds right overall, don't worry about it. I've never actually had any noticeable issues when I do wide panning. It's actually helped tremendously with my sound clarity and distinctness. (Just in case you're a little skeptical, you can try looking at my soundcloud if you want to)

Hm, you shouldn't have to simply low pass the lead like that. Isn't there a resonance knob in your synth? If you just low pass it, you take out the higher frequencies that help it to pierce through. If it's resonant, then it's boosted too much in one particular frequency range, but it moves with the current note being played (i.e. it's a keytracked/keyfollowed, internal EQ issue), so to lessen it, you'll have to turn down a resonance knob in your synth that should exist (it's a relatively common knob). I mean an actual, typical cymbal. I didn't really hear anything resembling a cymbal connecting those sections. Weird, it sounds a little bit different at 2:30. Did you add something else that also has delay, or change the snare velocities or sequencing? I don't know what DAW you're using (it's not in your profile at the moment), but do you happen to have an EQ that lets you see the frequencies that your instruments are occupying? Something like this (ignore the oval)? Wait a minute, are you sure you said that right? You said "the sub bass is side chained to the kick and snare." It should be the other way around, as the kick should be heard over the bass. It's also not entirely necessary to sidechain the snare to the bass. You could just do a peaking EQ at the snare fundamental (200~300Hz or so) and a notch EQ in the bass where the snare fundamental is. That should make some room; you could also try that with the kick. Another solution or additional thing you can do is pan the effects you have a little wider using ping pong delay that has particular delay times. If you make it so you can't hear the distinct echoes by speeding up the delay times to a certain extent, then it'll sound wider without sounding like actual delay. That should help with, for example, your wub-like bass at 3:13.

Have someone massage your hands if they start to hurt. Could be carpal tunnel. Hope not.

0:41 sine-like wave is too resonant. 0:55 - where's the cymbal? Dunno why, but the snare sounds wide to me. Should be panned center. Check the mix's low end some more. Still a little iffy. 2:30 snare delay is too much. Try using 2:18's snare delay feedback level at 2:30 and removing it at 2:18. 2:44 lead is same as before, and washed in reverb. Makes low end muddy. It's most obvious at 3:14 that it's cluttered spatially and frequency-wise. Snare overall is a little dry.

If you really need to, just PM them, assuming you haven't yet.