timaeus222

First of all, I'm not sure what you mean by death metal, Gar. This is clearly a dance/synthpop mix. This isn't bad at all. The sounds you chose are really cool, and the song is upbeat and exciting. It's repetitive, but it's not with bad sounds, so it's not as bad. You just need to balance them better, give them more spatial arrangement, add proper reverb, and give them expressiveness (vibrato, tremolo, etc.). EQ out any frequencies that you don't need in certain instruments. If you still have overlapping frequencies, use different instruments, or shift octaves. That should make everything clearer. Then add reverb where appropriate. Fact: Pretty much nothing in life comes without reverb of some sort. Good luck with this. It might not be a fit for OCR at the moment, but it sure sounds good.

The intro/buildup is a bit long. Definitely shorten it. Limit yourself to changing things up every 4 bars, and it should make it more concise. Right now it's about half the song. The pace just never actually gets more exciting until the second half. That first flute doesn't really work because it sounds fake. I think maybe a simple pluck arp might work better. The mandolin-like instrument is pretty good. It just sounds a bit dry, so add some reverb on it, or more reverb on it. I think a Dubstep-like drum rhythm might work pretty well in the buildup. Other than that, it's not bad, a lot of the sounds are pretty good. I'd replace the current leads with something more unique or expressive, and the saw wave playing the jazz chords with a real rhodes, or something closer to that.

I don't think I'm hearing that much low end detail. It's mostly subs, skipping low end, and then the rest of the frequencies. Aside from that, the kick covers some of the low end, but not much. In a song like this, you need an actual bass, not a really low sub bass. Try finding a PWM bass, that would work great. I think in the breakdown section at 1:36, the polyphonic saw is too hissy, and detracts the listener's attention away from the lead. The lead, as it is, is too simple. It's just sustains. Try making it more expressive, like with legato, vibrato, and so on. Or pick a new sound for it. You can change leads in the same song without it being awkward. I think the sub bass overall is too loud, btw. Near the end, the lead is obscured by the bass, and the sound effects are acting like they're the main attraction. Really think about what you want to be heard and what you want to just be there to fill the mix.

The bass isn't too loud, but it has reverb, which it shouldn't. What bass have you heard of that has reverb? Even though it's an arp with automated filter, it's playing really low notes, so close enough. Instead of adding reverb to the bass to get a fuller atmosphere, add fuller instruments in general, like pads. Right now the mix sounds kinda muddy with the excess reverb on the bass. I think if you take that out, it'll clear up room for more instruments. You can also spice up your arrangement by adding things in faster. Instead of just adding things in every 16 bars, maybe add more subtle things in at 8, or even 4 bars. You should also craft your sounds some more. They're interesting, but not all of them.

That's good. I would have recommended Zebra2 as well. That's what I used to make that layered bass sound. I understand that you want to go for a specific style, but that doesn't necessarily limit you to the few instruments in that style. Lots of OCR artists have remixes that mix several genres. Although 80's Acid House is pretty specific, there are more than just those specific instruments that can go well with that genre... right? For example, I don't think I heard this: Then of course you can always give your sounds more life, if you don't want to change them or add more. Craft the tones some more to keep sort of the same tone, but with your own touches to it, like vibrato, phaser, chorus, etc.

I'm not actually asking you to find more sounds. Just more flexible VSTs. I'm asking you to be aware of any new VSTs that warrant your attention (those that are capable of some really great synthesis, AND are inspiring), and it looks like you are. Just don't limit yourself to the free stuff. Be on the lookout for the good commercial VSTs too. Look at reviews and seriously consider buying something that you believe you'll keep using for a long time. What I mean by more interesting sounds is that I'd like to hear more than just basic saw waves and all those basic waveforms, plus a few interesting things. It'd be great if you spent more time adding subtleties that, although most people wouldn't notice, add more to your remix and really make it stand out. For example, layering specific sounds to get a sound that you want that you don't have. On a remix I'm working on right now, I spent about a half hour picking bass tones to layer to get the right bass tone, and I ended up mixing an FM bass, two different PWM basses, and a funk pulse bass. It sounds like this: http://www.box.com/s/22faivryknxo6fg7olvh There was a funk pulse bass to give it a big low end, one PWM bass to give it a powerful treble tone, one other PWM bass to add more to the treble to let it pierce through a thick mix, and an FM bass to round out the overall tone. So what I'm saying is take your ideas to the next level and make your sounds attractive. Add some expressiveness with vibrato, tremolo, pulse-width modulation, phaser, chorus, sync, and so on. Think about if other people might think "Damn, that's a really cool sound. How do I make that?" If they think "Oh, that's a pulse wave" or "That's a square wave on a low octave with some detuning", it's because it's a simple sound. Add some interest into your sounds, and it'll make your tracks much more appealing to more people.

Yeah, a lead would be a good idea. I don't think I've ever heard a song without a real lead (unless you're constantly going for a [insert proper name here] note that is just "there" because the harmony's so good. ;D).

Nah, I just meant you needed more different sounds in general to make the song not sound so much "the same" throughout as just a "consistent feel" throughout. I'm trying to get you to create a track with a more complex and rich atmosphere, not necessarily more packed with filler sounds or super high quality with awesome sounds. The ones you had were fine, just expand the amount of instruments a bit more to create more distinct sections to the song. Listening again, I hear these things: The waveform looks good, I think the mastering is great. At 0:25, the plink-like arp that comes in might be panned too far left, I'm not entirely sure. I hear more of it on the left than the right, and it's kinda awkward. Maybe do some automated panning? I'm not sure what's at 0:53. If it's a sudden white noise transition, it'd be great if it came a bit earlier. For some reason though, at 1:01, when the lead comes in, it's still too far in front. The snare and kick are being obscured. Try turning up the volume on the kick and snare all the way, and using a good quality compressor to keep them from hitting the limiter too hard. Then try lowering the volume (just a bit) of everything except the drums by the exact same amount. Maybe then that'll leave headroom for more ideas. At 1:55 - 2:39, there are actually too many instruments there in the same frequencies, so it sounds muddy. I know I said add more instruments, but I meant fill frequencies that are kinda empty. Maybe it's time you did some more instrument-hunting, to find more resources than what you have right now. I'm still staying aware of anything interesting these days. I also expected the lead to stop at 2:24, so maybe that's a good time to put in a transition into a new section for the song. This time, try breaking away from the feel you've had going for the rest of the song and changing the rhythm. I'm not sure what you could have in mind, but maybe a breakdown section of some sort could help. Taking away the drums, changing the time signature, using a new drum rhythm, or anything like that could make this work. Maybe another thing you could do is automate EQ bands to lower the frequencies that would have overlapped if a new instrument came in. That way, that instrument has room to breathe, and things aren't clashing as much. Sounding a lot better, keep it up!

Wow, that's some extensive expansion on the theme! Well done! Since you change the type of drum beat at 1:22 and 3:23, you might as well make a better transition than that. I didn't expect the change from dance to big beat. It gets pretty conservative after 3:23, but that's a good thing. Maybe you can get more conservative near the ending, because the source has been pretty chopped up before 3:23. I'm thinking you should upgrade the lead sound. Make it more than just a saw wave. Give it vibrato, make it legato, use modwheel, etc. Add some more glitching, like at 1:49. Maybe a glitchy section. Add more interesting sounds, like at 2:04, except not just one new instrument; do more than that.

I agree, the rhythm guitar is too loud, but not by much. Maybe lower the gain by about 2 dB?

The guitar sounds good, but the lead synth is pretty terrible. It's on a bad octave, and it's very shrill. Other than that, it's an alright remix of this theme. It's tied pretty closely to the source, so it kind of sounds like a cover.

The lead is overpowering the drums quite a bit. Notice how whenever the lead plays, you can't really hear the kick or snare. The hi hats somehow seep through. I think aside from that, the production is sufficient, for the sounds you're using now. If you want it on OCR, though, you'll need to think about how to broaden your sounds and find more sounds to add to your pool of instruments and use more than just a few instruments throughout the entire song. I think I counted a kick, snare, cymbal, hi hats, 3o3 acid arp, saw arp, white noise with an automated thin-Q bandpass sweep, pluck arp, saw lead, bass drop, and a pitch bended poly saw (drop transition). From there, you stopped introducing new things. I think if you put in more instruments and rotate them to give your song a certain progression, it'll keep more people's attention than it could now. When I write remixes, I tend to have more than 10 instruments or sounds. Usually I land around 30-50. I know that's a lot, but about 1/3 of them are usually drum samples, and those are usually layered as one drum sample instance, at least for me.

I agree, the chiptune sounds don't fit this at all. You need to upgrade your sounds, and get a better mix balance too. Right now, those chiptune sounds are too loud as well. I can't really say anything else, because it sounds the same almost the entire time.

Oh, cool, that's a pretty sweet purchase! xD I don't use Massive as much, though, because it keeps glitching up on me and muting in the middle of a song until I delete NIMassiveDataBase_ul and reload the database. Okay, this is sounding a whole lot better. I really love the transition you put in leading towards 1:08. It's an early enough heads-up, and it works really well. At 1:22, I think I know what you're going for. Try sequencing in a real "bell glissando" (made up that phrase lol) for that bass, and using a resonant filter sweep on a square wave. I remember that type of sound from here: at 14:04That main bass also sounds great! I haven't said this yet, so I liked that vibraslap at 1:27. I see what you were going for at 2:22. Perhaps a triplet leadin to that key change? It works otherwise. At 2:41, when it changes back, I think from there, you need some more notes in your lead to lead back to the original key. I like the little filler snare rolls Synplant is very interesting, btw, I took a look. Good stuff so far, keep it up!

Sounding good so far. I like the resonant sweeps in between sections. The snare is a bit weaksauce though. I'm thinking near the end of the WIP, a transition that starts a bit earlier than 1:13 (i.e. 9 snare hits instead of 4 snare hits, in another context) would help.

Well, it looks like after some experimentation, I'll be going with a castlevania-like big beat/electronica remix.

You know, I think I might do the Final Boss theme. I'll see if I can think of something for it later. For now, this is something that shows what I can do (though not necessarily the same genre I would intend for this theme): http://timaeusproductions.bandcamp.com/track/expansive-networking-network-is-spreading

What you're saying has to do with the attack and the release. If the attack is really early (like 0.01-0.20ms), and the release is rather short (like 0.10-5.00ms), it'll just make the snare punchy, and not overcompressed in the wrong spots. ---------------- The first instrument that plays until 0:20 is pretty irritating. It's suffering from excess distortion and bitcrushing, and poor quality distortion, at that. You need to replace that. Yeah, the compression on the snare has too long of a release, so it's compressed for too long. As a result it sounds duller. The sub bass is also too high. Lower it a bit, and lower the kick a bit too. The kick is adding extra overcompression to the track. The majority of the instruments could use a major upgrade. It's fine to have chiptune instruments, but don't have them be nearly that simple. It'd be great to give them expressiveness, like vibrato and dynamic filters. Some good ideas here and there, but overall you need to cut out what doesn't contribute to the song.

I'm not by any means an orchestral expert, but I agree on that, I do hear a little bit of overcompression.

Well, here's what I can really say right now. It sounds too quiet at 0:54 - 1:36 and after 2:21. It would be great to turn up the volume there by about 10 dB. There are times when it's not even registering on my audio editor (2:27-2:29). The piano sounds good. I think there's reverb, but it might be a little subtle. Maybe increase the wet mix just a little.

There isn't too much necessarily wrong with that. This remix has lots of really low bass, and it was accepted.

Oh hell no. You did it! xD I've been trying to figure that out since I first got Kontakt, lol. I managed to get separate MIDI Outs before, but not Sends. Thanks from me too.

Haha, I liked both of those tracks. Neurobazaar was my favorite off that album. Interesting mashup. xD

The "best" ones aren't cheap, and the cheap ones aren't always good. "Best" isn't a good way to define "good" either. There isn't a "best", just a "more preferred" or "easier to work with". I personally love FL Studio, but it isn't cheap. The Producer Version is $199. I'd still recommend it. Unlike what some people might say, it's not just for techno. I've used it for Jazz Fusion before. You will have to find other instruments to put into it, unless you'll be able to do really well with the defaults and synthesize your own stuff. There are lots of free instruments out there though.

I second that. Usually sounds that inspire me work out pretty well, but putting restrictions without really knowing it actually works most of the time.