timaeus222   Members

Like what? You're quantizing, not using a modulation matrix. What 'options' are you expecting? I personally rarely quantize. I only do so when I play parts in live for specifically a video game OST or similar where instruments are expected to play in perfect rhythm. Otherwise I usually either play it in live and leave it, or sequence it in because I like doing it like that.

It appears that a lot of pop music is dance, trance, or house. Every now and then a big beat track shows up, or maybe some dubstep here and there. Sometimes you can find a pop song that just downright bugs you (corny and long machine-gun-like kick buildups, "gotcha" buildups that lead up to nothing extremely awesome, excessive autotune, tacky drum sequencing, etc.), and you might find it ridiculous that it somehow made it on the popular list. Any ideas why dance, trance, house, and similar genres are so popular? Could it be because of the musician's marketer, or people's partying habits, or that some people just think it sounds good and don't give a second thought because they don't compose music as extensively as OCR members, or...? What do you think?

I dunno, I've used FL for only a year and 7 months, and I've created this short song two days ago using patches I designed on Zebra2: https://www.box.com/s/uhzb3h309fcxnc4eg01q I guess it just depends on the person, but FL is rather simple to use for the most part. I just had to gather the right tools, like spectral analyzers, badass limiters, and flexible/all-around synthesis VSTs. IMO, being able to work well with a spectral analyzer to give your music dynamic contrast is a huge step up from less-than-adequate mixing.

I found my sister's old textbook, "Audio in Media" (pre-2007), and it turns out what you said was somewhere in that book. I wonder if you've read that before, because it's awesome. xD

You can change the time signature rather easily, but changing in the middle of a song is agreeably weird. If you learn the technicals of FL, it's not as restrictive as you might think. If zircon can use FL like he does, it's surely possible to kick ass on it.

Something you could also do is listen to certain chords and try to identify them on a piano or something that you can play and analyze what you played. That way you know how to get that sound or feel you want, and you'll know, for example, that a good jazzy chord is an Am6 1st inv (A minor 6th first inversion), written as C-E-F-A. Basically, learn the types of chords there are and find a pattern on how to relate them. Minor/Major, Diminished/Augmented, diads, triads, tetrads (rarely are there 5 note one hand chords), and find a system that helps you organize them, regardless of whether you know music theory or not. Memorizing and identifying terms isn't too difficult, as long as you're matching real concepts with real designations. For example, a root major chord (1-3-5, like C-E-G or F-A-C) with a flatted third (the E in C-E-G or A in F-A-C) is minor, and with a flatted third and fifth (E and G in C-E-G, etc.) is diminished. A root major chord with a sharped fifth (sometimes sounds ugly) is augmented. Diads, triads, and tetrads are simply any chord with 2, 3, or 4 notes respectively. Another thing you could do is take a simple song and try to recompose certain parts of it from scratch. Maybe that could help you see what note harmonies it has since it will be in front of you in MIDI form. OR you could just mess around and see what you could come up with. One time I tried that Am6 1st inv chord and created a progression by shifting up modes (shifting every note up a whole step) and, eventually, a 1:31 song out of it (with some modifications to the chords later on once I got inspired halfway through). It was really a patch bank demo for Zebra2 so I made all the sounds used (giving me an advantage in terms of inspiring sounds), but regardless, I wouldn't have come up with that song without a chord progression written first. Not to say making a chord progression first is an uber-good way, but it worked for me just then, though that usually isn't how it works out for me. This is that track: Timaeus - After Dark

What you need is a reverb VST that can adjust bass reverb, mids reverb, and highs reverb. Uhbik-A and ArtsAcoustic Reverb are great for that, and I believe Ambience can do lows and highs (but not mids).

I'll take a look at this when I get home (three of my university classes were canceled today for Thanksgiving. ).

Sounds pretty good! I do think there could be a lot more expression on the square lead starting at 1:18. It seems to be playing regular sustains. Vibrato the lead! Add some more glide (in certain spots, not overall)! Change leads at 2:22, maybe? Keep it fresh. Maybe a slightly resonant saw wave with a minor low pass (kind of like Thing of Gold by Snarky Puppy)? 2:43 - Change the lead again, perhaps? Something more suited to the change to minor, maybe a gritty, distorted, very slightly detuned resonant saw lead (just thought of it now, so no comparison point. xD)? 4:29 - keep the square lead there, for sure, it's back to major! Aside from that, just make sure nothing's too quiet.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the saw wave patch. Actually, it seems to be panned too widely. Center it a bit, and lower the resonance a tad. Definitely add in some modwheel vibrato at some parts. The rhythm guitar seems to clutter up the mix a lot. Try lowering the volume, but keeping the mix level at about -7dB, then raising the volume until it reaches about -6dB. Then, try raising the bass volume to its "default maximum" (i.e. FL Studio's default maximum is 78%) and reducing its mix level until it's at about -5dB. Together, the bass and rhythm guitar should add up to about -4dB for a well-packed guitar mix. The lead should be at about -5dB mix level, but at the "default maximum" volume. If you can make something quiet sound loud, then you'll have lots of headroom for other things. You'll also have lots of leeway and you can raise the amplitude until it's good if you have to. Drums are great enough in tone, just bump them up to about -0.5dB safely (other things should bump them up to -0.2dB-ish).

Well, taking a rather quick look, seems like a whole bunch of new presets (130+) and effects, available sidechaining, and improved cabs and amp sims. Of course, an upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit. Not sure, but there might also be a quality upgrade. I can't find anything on GR2's sample quality, but GR3 and past have 192kHz/24-bit rendering, so it's at least up to expectations. I personally have GR4, and it's great as-is. I don't plan on getting GR5 unless I get the time to install Windows 7 which I already have and Sony Vegas 11, which I just got recently (SV9 fails on Windows 7. Dx). Then again, it's not actually $200 if you already bought GR2. It's either $80 or $100 to update, depending on your situation, but definitely not $200.

Usually online classes aren't that great, and degrees you get from online universities aren't all that credible. You sure?

The string patch's attack envelope sounds really fake in the beginning. It's less evident later on because it's being backed by the cinematic drums, but you should definitely try to fix that. Maybe try a legato patch in poly mode?

Who retains all the rights to the remix? Just checking.

You already have a kickass guitar tone, JP. Why do you need that? xD @OA: Wat? GR5 is out now. o.o

Damn, that's a good deal. If I didn't already have Guitar Rig 4, and if I already had Windows 7 (I use Vista, Dx), I'd take that deal. xD

I definitely agree on the arrangement, it's fantastic. If you want some more realistic picked guitar stuff (I'm sure the GarageBand guitars, or any non-sample library guitars, aren't as realistic as, for example, some sort of a Kontakt guitar library), I can do it and send you back a WAV or MP3 if you send me a MIDI of the guitar track (for the greatest accuracy). I'm sure it's possible considering you're using FL Studio (and I am too). I have Keolab Spicy Guitar (acoustic guitar, free), this Kontakt lead guitar library ($179.99) and Shreddage Rhythm Guitar library ($50 or $70, depending on the deal you are looking at). Orangeholic is like the best sound demo for what you're looking for, btw, for Strawberry Evolution Electric Guitar. Oh, and I have a lot of other stuff, so if you want to collaborate, I'm willing. I can add lots of cool stuff, like better drums, brass, lush pads, bells, etc.

I think the main problem is not the repetition but the fact that you're generally writing the song with the exact same notes as the source. It'd be in your best interest to create an arrangement that either takes nearly the exact same notes as the source and adds some ultra mega epic blow-your-face-off effects, or rearranges the notes so the song isn't so strikingly similar, yet it is personalized enough to call it an awesome rearrangement. Keep trying. The non percussion has good dynamics, if you boost everything by about 3 dB.

Er... this song is way too fast for the samples you chose. You see what I mean, right? Piano professionals would have trouble playing that fast perfectly. No strings ensemble can play that fast, nor is it realistic. :/ Good idea, but try to go for a more realistic approach.

Usually I tend to do ambient, electronica, and rock. All my stuff ends up sounding like that, at least. And I usually just pencil in my notes, like Neblix. Other times, I write it in with my MIDI keyboard if I want to record piano MIDIs or something.

Pretty fantastic glitch dubstep there.

You have some good ideas here, but I'm not exactly sure what's going on in the song. Maybe you can improve on the sense of direction in the song. Try to make it so each part of the song leads up to the next. Right now it's cluttered with cool effects, but they're placed awkwardly and it doesn't seem to fit well.

I'd be up for it occasionally. I'm rather good at this kind of stuff.

I definitely would echo the idea of changing the chords around. I need to try lengthening a chord progression sometime and adding my own chords in between. That would probably give me some good ideas, and probably you too.

You do that. Sometimes it takes more than one full, complete attempt, maybe even more than 3. i.e. Dirt Devil by zircon took one try plus 3 redoes.