timaeus222

I would recommend something where you can rewind repeatedly to trace each note, like Audacity, or most DAWs---I use FL Studio, which has an unlimited-time free demo, but others have suggested Reaper. Audacity should be able to slow down sequences as well, though any stretching artifacts can be a bit offputting. Besides that, I actually try to register the sequence in my head and hum it back (even if more slowly). If it's any faster than I can hum it, I just play it back in my head instead of humming it. Nothing much I can suggest to be able to do that other than try to do it, and practice it using sequences that are easy to distinguish above the accompaniment. As for registering chords in your head, I would listen to simpler harmonies (like minor/major thirds, perfect fourths/fifths, etc), think about how they sound when combined, and get those to heart. That helps me break apart stacked chords and dense soundscapes and discern what I want to transcribe at the moment. That was especially needed in this, which is a remake I attempted of this (I could probably improve the cello some more, but other than that I'm loving how it turned out), since I couldn't find any sheet music and had to do it by ear. What I did here was try to identify each distinct element in the soundscape and follow what it was doing. If I couldn't quite hear what it was doing, I wrote something reasonable to approximate what it was doing.

Sorry, I should point out that I was referring to: Honing in, I'm looking at 3:27 - 3:35, and I think ultimately I have no 'busy-ness' issue with 3:35 - 3:43. Thanks for trying hard to see what I mean.

Yeah, I get what you mean in the bold. I'm not saying it's not counterpoint. It may be technically correct, but to me the voices that are there now are *conflicting*, rather than playing off of each other "while still working well harmonically". It's hard for me to explain, but what I hear is that the voices are 'vying for attention at the same time', so to speak, so if I try to listen to one, the other 'butts in'. I would prefer that I can choose to listen to each voice without feeling like the other is 'intruding'. Maybe if you don't want to adjust the actual notes in your counterpoint, it can be helped through more separated panning.

It's a pretty old iPad, and doesn't have 3G, but I wanted to check it out anyway.

I get a 'GPS signal not found' message on my iPad 2; Location Services are on. Not sure how that might be a problem, though it seems my avatar isn't responding when I move, or has a delay after I move. I got past the "Catch a Pokemon" screen here after restarting the app, but it's still pretty buggy for me. Apparently it's not designed to support tablets (yet?).

I gave this a quicker listen yesterday, so right now here are more specific thoughts after I downloaded the track: 1:06 - 1:22 gets cluttered by the organ reverb coupled with whatever pads are in the background. This is in the low-midrange, near 200 Hz. It doesn't make the melody any less clear, but it does mud up the accompaniment. At 1:31 - 1:38, it's a little cluttered, but I'm not that bothered by it; the lead, chordal instrument, and the short+plucky arp are all centered, which is probably why. At 1:39 - 1:54, while I agree it's as cluttered, I think the organ was intended to lead together with the pulse lead, but the pulse lead is a tad loud. I wonder if it could be improved by simply low passing the pulse lead temporarily there. Overall pretty well balanced though. 1:55 - 2:28 is pretty sparse (not a bad thing), but I liked it as a short breakdown/reprieve. 2:12 - 2:28 for me is comparable to 1:39 - 1:54 in terms of the mixing. 2:37 - 2:53 and 4:00 - 1:16 for me are comparable to 1:06 - 1:22 in terms of the mixing. 3:27 - 3:43 for me is comparable to 1:31 - 1:54 in terms of the mixing + busy partwriting. Keep in mind though that I don't think these become dealbreakers overall. The organ reverb clutter is the largest issue IMO (Gario's concern), and that is probably followed by the potential for the soundscape to be less dense and more '3D' (which would address most of Nikanoru's concerns), but I think the arrangement is so good that I would love to see this on the site. I don't think it's necessarily that the melody is "too intricate"; I think that's fine, but if two melodies don't play well as counterpoint (i.e. they have conflicting motions, giving the idea of two leads fighting for attention), then I would be bothered by that. EDIT: Maybe it can helped with more separated panning, but to my ears, the current notes are both 'conflicting' and technically proper counterpoint.

I remember hearing this on @zircon's soundcloud, and I was wondering when it would hit the front page! I think this is the level of ultra-compressed aggression that probably only zircon could be daring enough to do, and do well, because despite those blasting drums, a lush, fitting breakdown was still managed. The soundscape is super dense, but not overly cluttered, and Shreddage is certainly well-showcased here. Sweet solos as well!

I wonder if simply using more distinctly different waveforms amongst the background waveforms (e.g. triangles are generally pretty soft-sounding, and saws generally have strong harmonics) would make the soundscape feel less dense and more '3D'. Arrangement-wise I love it. Another production thing you could try is play around with panning the background arps around so that they have more motion, and that way, they can be dropped in volume and leave room for the melody to be heard while the ear can follow the moving background if it wants. Example

Indeed; as a note, I would say that the strongest notes are usually (but not always) the note that emphasizes the "pulse" of the song, or the note that starts a long phrase. It's not always the first note in a measure, but it can be. I agree though, that having a MIDI keyboard and practicing on it would help you have a better idea of how you can write more realistic velocities.

Quoted for truth; I'm pretty much the same way, except for that last phrase. I do, however, still compress, but that's because I write punchy electronic music, so that's normal. I do EQ a bit less drastically these days, but that's mostly because I've designed many of my go-to sounds to be polished and usable right out of the box, in EQ, reverb, tweakability (XY, Modwheel, etc), and so on. I do mix while I compose as well, and it's so I can know how my track sounds in context at each given moment. I never feel like I can make a good decision on sound selection unless I've considered the mixing aspect of it as well. I wouldn't say it's crucial to learn both composition and mixing to the same extent, but if you have the motivation, definitely go for it. Better to be well-rounded, IMO.

Stephen Anderson collabed with Lindsey Stirling to make an FF1 album. An epic-cinematic mindset meets talented violin skills. The result was an electronic violin album with an edgy touch! Here's an example track: @The Nikanoru Haha, I have a feeling some people might have been like, "it's REEU" about the pronunciation (EDIT: yup, found one on the YouTube comments!). I like the humor in the lyrics.

Well, the piano and choir are fairly mechanical. The choir is lacking volume swells that a real choir would have, and the piano has mostly quantized notes, so they come off as robotic. What it means is that the note rhythm is too perfect to be human, and the note velocities aren't that varied. Also, the percussion at first was reasonable in terms of the amount of activity it has going on, but at 0:52 - 1:18, there is a persistent resonance in the treble frequencies in the percussion that feels a little grating to me. I think you did accomplish the vibe you wanted, and I'd say the percussion mostly works, but ultimately, the major issue is that the sequencing of the piano and choir are pretty stiff, and could be improved by varying the velocities on the piano and adding volume swells to the choir. As a suggestion, you might also want to make the choir parts more interesting with more movement in the higher registers. You may find this a suitable reference track.

Hm... I'm definitely loving the overall soundscape here. The toms could have had a bit less low end to clear up the low-mids overall, and the kick was a bit "flabby", but not really a big deal. I actually liked the guitar tone, which aggressively shines through at 2:45. The mix was a tad cluttered, but I could still make out most elements, so I'm happy with it overall. The arrangement is clearly well-conceived, and pretty well-executed. Awesome!

I got these chords in E major: E G# B F# B D#, but F# A D could be a cool variation C# E A F# A D is technically in D major, but it seems to fit to me. Remember that the progression does change at 1:06. I hear: A D F# A C# E F# A D And it changes again at 1:37. I hear: B E G# B D# F# B E G# A C# E B D# F#

Sounds like you learned more in those 6 years, and decided you'd write less bad stuff. Kind of a good, but somewhat bad thing; sure, your standards have improved, but now you have this reluctance to write something bad. But go ahead, write something bad in private; you'll learn something in the process. Heck, you could share it here on the OCR forums and we could help you on it. Maybe having someone else helping you can push your music in a direction you didn't know was possible. ----- You could also try listening to new music. I tend to find Impact Soundworks demo songs to be pretty inspiring. ----- If you want to write something and you don't have ideas, improvise. If you can't improvise, practice. Try to learn some chord structures from music you like, and maybe your music can be influenced by those ideas when you play around with them enough and internalize those patterns. I've never been a great improviser, but sometimes I find great chord progressions just from messing around on the keyboard. My best ideas tend to be due to the chord progressions I accidentally find while playing around with an inspiring sound. My advice? Get a MIDI keyboard so you can improvise like this. ----- If you have ideas but you don't know how to execute them, probably: You're missing sounds you need to execute your idea. You don't have a fast enough workflow to flesh out the idea before it's gone. You're not sure how to identify what's going on in a model song you want to be inspired by. Not exactly easy to address those points though... Here's my take on each point: Maybe jot down example songs, and ask around (on OCR, hint hint) about what synths, sample libraries, or other resources you might need to accomplish a certain idea. Try learning keyboard + mouse shortcuts in your digital audio workstation (DAW) that allow you to work faster. I find that if I find the shortcuts myself, instead of reading from a manual, it feels more natural and easier to remember. Also, of course, practice in your DAW so that you know how to use its plugins and other features inside-and-out. This is quite hard at first, and the best advice I can think of is to ask someone else you trust to dissect an example song, and then maybe you can try to hear what they hear, and imitate that process on another song. Hone in on specific instruments in specific spots in the stereo field, and try to isolate what that texture is, and whether you have / can achieve something like it or not. Like lots of other things, practice this, and you'll get better.

Apparently I count amongst those people who have written techno AND rock... in one! By the way, I also appreciate that @José the Bronx Rican used my baby picture (courtesy of my dad) in the album art! (I'm the sketched baby)

There isn't really a set "formula" for auto-successful requests. Any artist has the freedom to choose to do or not do these requests, but he/she might be more inclined to try if the requester is clear enough. Here's an example to show approximately what a good typical request might look like (I just made it up right now; it's not real). EXAMPLE Thread title - Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon - Boss Battle 3 (+ other) remix? Thread description -

Genre of the remix. Make multiple topics, within reason. two-source remixes are fair game, but they might be harder to write for some people.

I like how the syncopation makes this feel like 6/4, but it's actually 4/4. Birgitta's vocals were nice and upfront; apt and effective!

I feel it takes a great deal of 'restraint' to write a slow ballad like this and focus on the chord progression, textures, and the particular melodic notes you have, and not go on some crazy solo or add a big bass. Cool clock sound that you introduced around the 1-minute mark; it actually fit in, and despite being subtle, I could hear it that whole time. The production is relatively clean as well. Really nice job on this!

Definitely loving the nighttime feel from the bells early on. The electro drums were an interesting choice; I felt they made this less "sleepytime" and more "playtime", but they work nevertheless! I get hints of kirby in this, in both the sound design and some SFX, which is pretty cool. Great work!

Alright, it's finally here!

I was about to say that yesterday. Now you said it for me!

With orchestral pieces, you can do all your mixing ahead of time and save it as a template. That usually is enough, and you can focus on composition. But the mixing won't necessarily be perfect for every future composition, so you will have to do some tweaking to the mixing every now and then. As an example, obviously, if you have a lot of reverb, a fast orchestral composition will sound worse than a slower, more ambient orchestral composition, because faster notes will reverberate more often and smear together more. So, while the focus is still on composition for orchestral pieces, neglecting the mixing would be careless.

Yeah, though that's never really been a problem for me, I usually have less to keep track of if I've already polished each section well enough by the time I've started writing the next. That being said, if it's not something you're comfortable with doing (mixing as you write), you don't have to do it that way. I just find it easier if I hear all my sounds in the most recent mixing context, to know what I should do next. But hey, maybe arranging in chunks like that can help you. It makes my arrangements more spontaneous, I think. Thanks for your feedback; I personally don't hear the weirdness you say you hear at 2:30, though I can understand how since there is a lot happening there. It's basically a tension-and-resolve, just with more complicated voicings (like 7ths and 9ths).