timaeus222

Well, since you use FL Studio, it makes things a whole lot easier. If you want, you can send me the FLP(s) and I'll tweak the EQ, levels, and so on to clean it up. From there, I think the changing samples can wait. It would end up solving most problems.

Hm... all I can really say for this is that your ideas seem like they would be better off in a much shorter song. See if you can condense this into about 3:30 - 4:00. It might seem less repetitive; the first two distinctly loud sections sound very similar.

The phaser lead at 0:54 is cool. 1:48 - WAT. 2:07 sounds like a pseudo-peaceful section with big beat drums. Maybe something more expressive would work there. Pitch-bend DX7 piano? o.o Just kidding. But you're welcome to try that. Hm... at 2:40 - 2:44, the non-drum instruments sound a little soft. I would have expected that section to be a transition. Maybe polish that a little? Pretty awesome, actually!

High energy from the start, even without the drums! Nice! Sweet analog filter at 0:18! =D It sounds like a sync lead would be a good patch audition at 0:24. xD

Great energy going on here! I haven't heard this in a while, but I liked 3:26's transition. Those toms have a kickin' tone. A lot of the sound design is very generic, but I did enjoy stuff like the sync envelope at 1:36 - 1:40 and the low passed pad at 2:26. In fact, I would have liked to hear that pad for a longer length of the breakdown.

Okay, here's a few things I noticed: Up until 0:50, the song doesn't feel like it should be at like -0.4dB; I expected about -0.8dB, to be honest, because of the things happening in the song. Try fixing the balances on your instruments. For example, the synth arpeggio at 0:58 is too loud. Try not to have things you intend to be softer be really loud. This should fix most of the issues. The kick you have right now is more of a dance-type of kick. Try to find a vinyl kick, as that's what I imagine would work here. It seems to me like your snare at 0:52 at 1:38 has too much reverb. I think you should start over on its reverb wet/dry mix. Start the dry and wet at 0, and slowly increase the wet until you get what you want. If you're mixing on headphones, mix it a bit drier than you'd prefer because people tend to mix in too much reverb on headphones. At 1:12, the clap-snare layer is fine how it is in terms of reverb, but try leading up to that section. Right now it's very sudden. Same with 1:38. Try something like a snare roll or a reverse cymbal. At 1:20 - 1:29, the same lead notes play twice. Try adding more variation on it so it doesn't sound repeated. Aside from that, that's not a very bad start at all. Keep it up!

I think the biggest issue now is the levels on your instruments. The rhythm guitars feel too loud and the lead is consequently subdued. Same with the synth leads; because the rhythm guitars are so loud, you can be tempted to boost the synth lead too, and in this case they got louder than the lead guitar, particularly at 2:06. Weird. At 2:30 when the piano comes in, the drums should already be lo-fied or softer, or whatever you intended on doing there with the drums. I'd suggest half-time there. Try checking out "The Skull Fortress" by Sixto Sounds at 0:26 for the idea of a "lo-fi" feel and at 2:02 for the idea of a half-time less-energy feel. Also, from the look of that waveform, even on soundcloud, it looks like things are not compressed properly. That section sounds a lot softer than it looks. Try to use a compressor to make each instrument have its own volume and that way the song will look how it sounds. When that happens, it should sound much better. The ideas themselves on the breakdown are fine otherwise. Fixing the levels is like 80% of your problems. The other 20% are the transitions and synth lead expressiveness. Not too bad so far!

Alright then. Well, one piece of advice I can give is that you should try to make it seem like you're using only one kit, even if you're mixing kits. Try combining kits that could sound like they're one kit, then put them under the same reverb. The reverb would then have to be extremely mild; just enough to know it's barely there, so you believe the combined kits are in the same room. And if we look at the best lead/rhythm guitar libraries, I've ended up selecting these to use in the end: Strawberry Evolution Electric Guitar (Pretty good Rhythm, Awesome as Lead, $179.99) - http://www.orangetreesamples.com/evolution-electric-guitar-strawberry (Orangeholic is a really awesome demo) Impact Soundworks Shreddage X (Best Rhythm I've ever seen, $69) - http://shreddage.com/ (the Rock the Dragon demo is a really good demo) Note that you need Kontakt 4.2.4 (not Kontakt Player) or higher to use these (4.2.4 is a for-sure thing, since I have it and these libraries, but it could work for simply 4+), and Kontakt costs $500. Yeah, they cost money. That was kind of inevitable. If you don't want to spend money, then you should either ask someone to collaborate, or replace your instruments with something else, like a really good legato synth tone.

Just because it's how I am, I feel like 51 seconds is way too long of an intro with no sonic variance. I found myself skipping ahead to about 1:00. Definitely add something to evolve the track some more up to that point. I think I only heard one instrument and one or two sound effects that entire time. Overall, the track sounds the same throughout. Add some more arrangement ideas, and it'll be much better. Good start though.

Some suggestions (fantastic work so far, by the way): Overall, the bass is too loud in the low end. Try to get one that has about 3/4 the amplitude of the kick, is sidechained by the kick, and more treble fuzz. Whenever I want a specific bass sound, I almost always end up creating it myself. At 0:28, the pot clang feels too dry. It would be a good idea to process an entire percussion kit under one reverb instance to give the feel of just one kit being played, and not a combination of kits. I believe you were using only one kit, but it didn't feel like it. At 1:11 - 1:32, I think it would be great to change up the percussion rhythm just to deviate from your previous half-time rhythms. That way the song feels shorter but actually isn't. At 1:20, I find that distorted arpeggio tone ideal. Try getting the bass tone from beginning to 1:32 to sound like that. At 1:32, it feels like it leads into a breakdown, so change up the soundscape just to be creative. Think of a new combination of instruments that matches your previous and create a cohesive transition. At 1:52 - 2:06, it could be a breakdown, so try transitioning 1:32 - 1:51 to lead into that. Then, lead back up to something similar to 1:11, but with new percussion. 2:29 - 2:35 sounds like terraced dynamics to me. Try making it more gradual. 2:34 - 2:35 for a crescendo might be a bit too close. That's what I expected, but have the crescendo show up a bit earlier to give an earlier heads-up. In the 2:35 climax, the snare feels weak. Layer your snares and try to find a really powerful sound. Try not to stick to your one Damaged Drums kit. Also, the bell/steel drum-like (no, seriously) lead sounds like it has a lot of delay. Lower that by about 15%. The reverb is fine, but make sure you aren't reducing the dry mix on the reverb. Start it at 0 and adjust the wet first. 3:25 to the end sounds like good dynamics work to me. Nice work on that!

The only issues I had were some transitions, the weak snare, excessive low-end boosts in the rhythm guitars and the lack of expressiveness in the synth leads (simple sustains without vibrato or filters linked to an envelope). i.e. the "transition" at 2:47 from the acoustic breakdown back to the hard rock feel was very sudden IMO. Let me break it down: The snare was too soft. The tone is fine, but I didn't really hear as loud as a snare as I would expect from a song with hard rock sections. Immediately when the rhythm guitars came in, I heard a lot of low end muddiness. I still heard the kick, which is unusual when in the presence of that guitar muddiness, but I suppose that helps things. I was also somewhat disappointed when I heard the synth lead, because it could be so much better played in live, linking the modwheel to vibrato and recording the modwheel events to a MIDI so that the synth lead sections could be way more expressive. It was only sustains, and it felt like retrigger sustains, too. The 1:57 section with the synth lead was the most jarring. It felt like each note had pitchwheel edits up a half or whole step each time, which gets to be too much on each note for 6 seconds. It's not terrible, but the synth lead could really have been improved. Aside from that, this was a great remix. The piano itself sounds fantastic, and so do the acoustic guitars. Great electric lead guitar tone too. I'd say that overrides most of the issues mentioned above. Great debut, guys.

Act 1: Effects you have going on like at 2:11 are nice. That signaled the upcoming guitar for me. At 2:52, the guitar is fully exposed, so it would have to be really amazing to work there. Keep that in mind. Act 2: The ideas you have there are just fine. It's just the samples, balance, and EQ you need to improve. The arrangement works, for me at least. Both: It sounds like you're using FL Slayer or something. If you're going to want something with that tone, go for a synth plugin that you can learn to use and customize your own sounds. Then you can create a lead tone you want that is more obviously a synth lead and is trying less to be a guitar. No offense, but common electric guitar VSTi's aren't that good. Go for sample libraries or the real thing. It sounds like the kick is at least loud enough. Now see if you can find a good sample that isn't so heavy in the lows. You want one that is heavy enough in the lows to know it's there, but not so overpowering that it blocks out the bass, and it should also have a little high end so it can be heard. The snare sample sounds like a really old-school Roland-TR snare. Some of those are really nice, but aren't fitting for this genre. Those are more for Electro tracks. Try going for more of a rock snare.

I have some interesting ideas. You should include Wily Stage 2 in there. I've tried mixing Stage 1 and 2 before, and it seems to work well. I think the cymbals are interfering with the balance and are creating issues with muddiness. It sounds like the main reason for that issue for now. The saw wave that comes in when the time slider hits the left edge of the "a" in "Favourite" feels subdued. It sounds like it's the one playing the "lead" (kind of staccato, and feels more like a filler than the melody) at that point, so I think you either create a new lead or widen its EQ. When the time slider hits the left side of the "r" in "Favourite", The saw wave and guitar are playing the same notes. Try making the saw wave play harmonies, or even taking it out of that section and playing harmonies with another lead guitar track. If you want to keep that synth lead, definitely add vibrato with a modwheel input.

You might want to check the bass on your mix. I think it's too high. Also, sidechain your bass with your kick. I'm kind of hearing the kick, but not really. Considering it's for a game, everything else sounds fine.

Very small mistakes, but I love the harmonies you have going on! I agree with ProtoDome: the change to a major key halfway through is awesome! Yeah, don't lift your hands at the end so quickly. Just let it fade out naturally. You don't need much more reverb, but instead, try for more of an expansive room feel. You have the right reverb. Just give it the feel of a (really good-sounding) auditorium. You should get ArtsAcoustic Reverb if you don't have it.

Here is the updated version. New things done to the arrangement, stronger drums as compared to the rest of the instruments, and other miscellaneous edits. I do have a question: What do you mean by the fact that you have a "softer listening volume" and "louder listening volume"? Did you just pick two numbers to remember for your computer's master volume setting and use each while mixing? EDIT: I think the bass at 1:34 - 1:51 is too loud. Just something I thought I noticed. It's a different patch from what I used earlier, btw. https://www.box.com/s/eh9avztkmfx8vutdzjkx - V3.5 https://www.box.com/s/9dd9bgudok0163c1jdbq - V3.1 https://www.box.com/s/56z9dxmfxunrmikontgo - V3 https://www.box.com/s/37d1v1usjn1meiyrtf61 - V2.9 https://www.box.com/s/2ca7cd69192e4e8ccb43 - V2.8 https://www.box.com/s/3b0f7355c2e35291d612 - V2.7 https://www.box.com/s/4d5394ecc48204411b1a - V2.6 https://www.box.com/s/dcab54cace89d8bfbbbd - V2.5 https://www.box.com/s/8744fdd33600fecf3187 - V2 https://www.box.com/s/a292f4b302116d4bf027 - V1 (Bumped twice)

Maybe instead of turning it into a medley, you could just make a new arrangement and create a longer song out of a short source. It's usually a good exercise to see if you can make a longer remix than its source.

Alright, and now that I'm home, I'll check out the song. That sounds really awesome. It's a bit short, though. If you're just intending on showing us, then it's great on its own!

For future reference, an explicit forum sticky says, "one topic per song, one song per topic"... in the title. And just to clarify if you read Rozovian's post: I believe he meant "multiple tracks are allowed if and only if they are a compilation such as an EP or an album. Multiple unrelated tracks don't count."

I'm surprised that you think the drums aren't loud enough; I actually made sure the drums were heard the entire time, especially the snare. I suppose I could try layering the kick, but I've worked with the snare on this particular track wayyyy too many times, tbh. xD I'll probably do some mild sidechaining for the kick, as you suggested, then layer in a high end kick and lower the bass frequencies a bit. I was thinking about it earlier, but I wasn't totally up to it until now. I'll try boosting the snare a bit. I left some headroom on the mixer knob just in case. I also lowered the bass' bass frequencies a bit. As for the mid-highs resonance, I think I know what you're talking about. I have a slightly resonant PWM square-saw wave playing both some harmonies and some of the chiptune arpeggios, so that might be the thing to fix. I was kind of hearing that, but I didn't think much of it until now. I'll do the actual arrangement edits later, when I have more time. In the meantime, I believe I've fixed the other things. I'll put it up later. I got... *drumroll* college jazz ensemble tryouts. =D

He just means a better way to connect distinct sections of your song so that people aren't startled by a sudden change in the song without some sort of "warning".

I'd recommend checking out samples from the Roland TR-808, TR-909, and TR-626 sometime. There are some really nice congas and shakers from that.

Well, since mods are not really noticing this topic yet, I might as well first fix that levels issue I was talking about earlier, and other things I happen to notice. Edits: - Fixed the apparent organ level issue (although I couldn't find out why it happened; the notes looked fine to me). It might just have been a rendering error, I dunno. - Adjusted the lead's and bass' reverbs. - Did slight EQ work on the strings. - Improved the solo (made some legato parts more staccato to show off the vowel switch). - Slightly adjusted the timbre of kick and bass. - Improved the hiss on the decaying snares. Less hiss, more punch. - I put some compression on the breakdown percussion. - Other minor tweaks. https://www.box.com/s/9dd9bgudok0163c1jdbq - V3.1 https://www.box.com/s/56z9dxmfxunrmikontgo - V3 https://www.box.com/s/37d1v1usjn1meiyrtf61 - V2.9 https://www.box.com/s/2ca7cd69192e4e8ccb43 - V2.8 https://www.box.com/s/3b0f7355c2e35291d612 - V2.7 https://www.box.com/s/4d5394ecc48204411b1a - V2.6 https://www.box.com/s/dcab54cace89d8bfbbbd - V2.5 https://www.box.com/s/8744fdd33600fecf3187 - V2 https://www.box.com/s/a292f4b302116d4bf027 - V1

I am generally against ultra-repetitive songs like this, but here's what I got to say: Good things: Decent automated filter effects. The poly trance saw at 2:00 and other similar spots feels sidechained as well as the bass, and that comes off as strange to me, but not too bad. Bass sounds great. I liked the breakdown at 4:20. It was probably my favorite part in the entire song. It's too bad it was so short. "Not good" things: Repetitive, sparse soundscape. The arpeggios at 2:31 continue to repeat for far too long. It was cool at first, but each time it replayed in the same way, it got less and less cool. If the bass notes were simplified at 4:00, it would have helped. The instrumentation remains essentially the same throughout, and demonstrates some static textures. The delayed cymbal ending is also cheesy, as mentioned by the judges.

Yours is better by a margin. His had some sporadic dynamics. He was also mistaken in that he didn't read the video title. *coughTeasertrackcough* That's all I have to say.