timaeus222

I wonder how many times Larry laughed while trying to do his part.

Granular-like pads in the beginning really made this work.

These acoustic guitar soundfonts are pretty good. All of them are a little questionable in the higher notes. I forget where I found them though. You'll need to band stop the Maestro Velocity one at 82 Hz. Thankfully they all come dry. The harp may need a little dip at 260Hz.

I think I would have liked a little longer release setting on all the notes and some more progressive harmonies (like at 2:27), but other than that, it sounds pretty good. @Nutritious: I actually think 0:30 sounds a little bit like Chrono Cross's "Reminiscence".

I actually think the piano tone is just fine. Sometimes a piano can be EQ'd in a way that gives your song a sense of style. The only thing I'd say about it is that yes, the attack is a little harsh. The harp is a tiny bit quiet. Maybe by about 0.2~0.4dB. The 0:17 pizzicato cellos/double basses are too low-passed. There isn't much personality left in their characteristic attack. I'd agree that the reverb low cut could be raised a little more. The violins/violas are a little better, and could viably stay sustained like that if you use the legato keyswitches. It would be interesting if you used tremolo where applicable though, to build up tension a little, like at 0:33 or somewhere close to that... Wherever it is that you're "halfway" between 0:00 and 1:00. I know for sure that you have all the samples to do that, since you are definitely using EWQLSO Gold. It would be great if you could also add more movement to the notes you've written. 1:11 and similar spots needed that. 1:16 flute was a tiny bit buried, by about 0.1~0.3dB. 1:32 brass is very mechanical. It needs much more attention to the keyswitches you definitely have available. It's very obvious at 1:40. 1:42 cymbal could come earlier. There's a Cymbal sample that builds up a little more slowly, so try that and move it back about half a second. 1:45 could have a timpani roll for a transition. Brass coming next is also mechanical. Try looking at the Zorro theme for some ideas. It had a trumpet solo and some pretty extensive brass movement IIRC. Overall a little too much reverb going on. If you could reduce it by about 2~5% on everything (maybe you're stuck with those stage mics and that hall reverb, I dunno), that should make things a little clearer. Also, fix that tail at the end of the song. It cut off suddenly.

Thanks! If it's a sound effect, then it could be a little further away with a bit of reverb, and quieter. Sometimes cross-panning helps. ------------------------ Fade-in intro is OK. Could be better. Sitar sounds a little bit mechanical, especially at 0:23. Try to think of a phrasing for it. 0:26 effect is a bit lofi to me. Sounds like a bad quality sample rip or something. It has lots of bad frequencies that you could EQ out. I'm not entirely sure, but I felt like the kick and snare are a little wide at first. They should be center. 0:49 sound effect is too bassy but the kick isn't EQ'd to make room for it. Try dipping down in the mids a little until you hear the kick changing tone, and stop when you start to dislike the tone too much. Sub bass and kick tail are too loud and long respectively, so leads after 0:53 are buried, or the kick/bass get too much attention. 1:30 needs a better transition. I think 1:42 is too early to come back in. 1:30 is more interesting to me than the normal DnB sections, so you could have doubled the length of that breakdown to give yourself more time to buildup back to the DnB section. 2:07 already changed? That was fast. Again, no transition was here. I don't think the Massive square bass fits very well with the sitar. Maybe something more FM-like. since FM is closer to physical modeling than additive or subtractive synthesis. You could also change the kick here, as it doesn't fit well either. It's too boomy without much of a contributing thump. Hi Hat rhythm feels separate from the rest of the song IMO. Try to integrate it more with the other instruments. 2:33 has too much going on right now without much of an idea of what should get the most attention. I'd like the Sitar in front, as that seems like it should be leading. 2:44 has no leadin. 2:44 - 3:09 doesn't have much of a focus at the moment, like 2:33. The rest should be similar to figure out.

I personally think too much going on is not actually that bad. It's a result of a tough thing done not so well. You sure can have a lot going on, but it has to be controlled such that the most important instrument attracts the most attention without trying too hard (i.e. being too loud), and the supporting roles are placed in the stereo field to sound like backup. Any "extra" instruments for filler might not be very obvious at first listen, but should still be audible to the extent of every single note's harmonic contribution (not necessarily the note itself). An example of that is here: http://box.com/s/ic8oespzk5pn43upc6ef @ 2:40 (not the final version though), where there's two leads harmonizing, a background sine wave, Shreddage Bass, a nifty arp (called "Nifty Arp" ;D You can hear that better in the final submitted version), and glitched drums. Of course, you don't have to pack it nearly that much in a remix. I just did that because I like music that "gives you new stuff" every few listens. The two leads are panned 20 left and 20 right respectively, the sine wave is panned center but far away with reverb, the arp is panned to the back of the listener's head while also having stereo ping pong delay for a wide pan, the bass is panned center, and the rest of the drums are just panned center too. tl;dr: Don't pan everything center if it doesn't make sense in the center. Center is for bass, kick/snare, and lead, mostly.

Just listen to real instruments playing, and imitate how they sound. i.e. Fast passages could be true legato or staccato flute, or spiccato strings with varying velocities, etc. He/she has the same intention as jnWake, basically.

The harmonies are well-planned. I like how the flute goes into focus at 0:52 while the piano goes into the background a little. It's not overdone. 1:19 sounds a little weird harmonically though. You went from a diminished chord with an A base to a first inversion m7 chord with a G base. It could sound right, but I think you should try bringing that D# down to a D just to hear how it sounds before going with either one. 1:28 is where it gets iffy. The drums are a bit quiet. Yeah, in an orchestra they're farthest away, but even so, they're slightly too quiet, mainly the cymbal (most evident at 3:21). Also, the kick rhythm is a bit awkward in this musical style. It makes the drums feel separate from the song overall. I've never seen an acoustic drumkit in an orchestra before. It could still work, but the drums should be a tad less buried, and leaning less towards a dramatic rock style, as it doesn't seem like the rest of the instrumentation conveys that. 2:02 needs more stereo separation and more EQ work on that guitar. I could barely hear the strums. 4:25 was a bit strange to me, and again, that makes this less of a traditional orchestral song. The limiter might also be pushed a bit too much. You can really hear that at 4:46. Think of it this way: Can you give this song to anyone in the entire world who has the same materials you have and as much experience as needed to recompose this song from scratch, leave them alone to do it, and trust that they'll succeed without much hassle? If you can say yes, then the mixing is good enough. Right now, it's about 85% there.

Zebra2 by a long shot. It's a do-all-be-all mega-synth.

Well, it's not that I didn't get it. I just didn't say anything about it. You've got the idea though, and it mainly just needs better samples.

This one is pretty interesting. I might remix in the future (The has more distinct background notes).The first 4 seconds sound like the Zorro theme at about 0:15 . Is it acceptable to have a section in the remix that is either purposefully or accidentally written in a way that sounds like the Zorro theme? What if the instruments are different from the orchestral combination in the Zorro theme? For example, a Duduk instead of a violin/viola section, but the brass section and cello/double bass section are still as they are.

Doom Castle sounds like it would be cleaner with better stereo separation. Try panning creatively and using delay creatively to pan. 1:45 needs it, for example. Walking Through the Woods was starting with a sine wave, but for some reason I couldn't hear that afterwards. Sine waves are supposed to be easy to mix, so there's something wrong here. Maybe it's too crowded. You could try adjusting octaves. 0:57 lead stuck out too much as dry and static. See if you can do some modulation, like vibrato or tonal shifts using LFOs. Crystal Kingdom sounds alright for what samples you used, but of course you know that it's really fake-sounding.

Well, that's actually not entirely true; I've tried low passing to 18~19.6kHz before on iZotope Stutter Edit, and it made the effects' treble much cleaner at all volumes. Usually it can be too piercing at even ~150% volume, and I like my songs to sound consistent at many volumes.

Interesting. I usually just do a high shelf above 4kHz and then a mild low pass at ~18-20kHz. Is there any reason you seem to like doing the peak boost more?

I'm hearing loads of timing issues. The intro guitar should be more polished. 0:26 drums are off-sync with the rest of the song. Snare is a little buried. Lots of instruments are too dry. Lead guitar is very static. I'm hearing quite literally just straight sustains. It's making me question the realism of it... Either it's fake or it's too stiff. Wouldn't expect the breakdown sections if I didn't look at the soundcloud player. Treble is crowded. Transitions aren't really there. It's just section after section. 1:45 doesn't make too much sense to me. 1:52 bass is off-sync. 1:55 is a huge mess. I don't hear anything distinct at all. There's too much going on at once without any stereo separation work. 2:35 is way too resonant and distorted and is painful to listen to. Ending doesn't make sense and has way too much sub bass. I don't know if it's supposed to be a crescendo fake-out or something else. This might have come off as a bit harsh, and I know it's probably improved somehow from the previous version, but I don't really think it's super enjoyable now either. There's some arrangement merit as there are loads of different sections, but they need to be more cohesive overall and the EQ needs to be tamed a good amount more.

Came in a little too fast. Anyone who's hearing this for the first time who ignored the topic title would just say "Okay, so it's Rock/Metal. Didn't really see that coming though.". Maybe a tom fill to lead it in? It's definitely close to being too overcompressed. I'd say turn down the Master gain about 0.4~1.0 dB. The mixing is too loud overall with that treble. Really bright EQ on that first synth lead. It's clashing with the rhythm guitars, and the rhythm guitars are a bit too loud. The rhythm guitars also feel too hollow and sharp without a strong bass. Lead guitar is OK. Fairly obvious at 1:38 that there's too much treble overall. Synth leads need more expressiveness. I don't hear anything more than plain sustains. 2:32 is muddy. I can't really hear the kick or the bass distinctly enough. A breakdown section would be nice. I don't really want to hear 4 minutes of a wall of sound. I can hear the strong effort, but there's some more work to be done.

Well... I don't think the wubwub was well-executed from a technical standpoint, and I agree with halc on that. I actually believe the wub bass is too thin, for sure. The filter that's being used is missing some body that would otherwise bring it into hardcore territory. Right now, being paired with bells of all things, it doesn't seem to work IMO. It feels static to me, and somewhat repetitive. I would have liked some glitch fills, drops (like at 2:59), or some other types of wubs brought in, like "wah-wah" wubs, "eeyeah" wubs, or downright nasty ones. Something to keep the variety going. Aside from that, I liked this.

Hm. Personally I would have dipped a tiny bit at 40 and below on the kick, not boosted the bass at 40, notched the bass at 80, and thin-peaked the kick at 80. Of course, don't overdo it. From what you said, it would make the bass overpower the kick's thump and the kick's subs overpower the bass' subs.

Sorry, that's not literally what I meant. I was intending to say each of their tones should be audible at any one time. I meant "meld" as in "cohesively combined". A little like this (if you listen closely, at 0:27 you can hear the bass notes clearly. At least... if you use nice equipment. Tiny bit muddy, but not too bad IMO. Toms don't like me. xD).

I decided to make a Shreddage II + Bass mockup of my favorite DBZ theme. Guitar is, of course, Shreddage II and Shreddage Bass, amped with Guitar Rig 5. Drums are EWQL Stormdrum plus a little Breakbeat Paradise stuff. Pads and other stuff from the first few seconds are Zebra2 and a free strings soundfont. I don't claim to own DBZ. https://soundcloud.com/timaeus222/dragon-ball-z-main-theme You can reference the original from here:

I dig this. Lots of great variation throughout, and I loved the subtle glitch delays and stutters on the drums and leads.

I thought it was pretty good. The piano was a bit soft, and the trumpet stood out to me the most. For some reason it sounds a bit tinny and fake-ish. It could be the few articulations you used, the EQ (I hope you didn't have to EQ it that much), or maybe the reverb? Keep it up! I loved your ToS remix with CarboHydroM!

I'm hearing loads of overcompression and maybe a little clipping. Things are too loud, your limiter has a REALLY slow release (nah...), or you're using a soft clipper. Kick is too loud. Snare, sort of. Overhead drums... maybe a tiny bit.

Good job. Looks like you know how to integrate your digital with your live gear.