timaeus222

I can't even imagine a human being playing this piano part. That's how good it is.

Hey, guys! Been a while since I posted here. I just finished an atmospheric medley of several Pokemon Mystery Dungeon tracks that I started two months ago. Total project time is about 31 hours. Feel free to make any comments you wish! ReMix: Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon - 'CONNECTED!' Sources: Revelation Mountain, Tree of Life (Roots), Dialga's Fight to the Finish! (PMD2) The ReMix title is based on the many alliances you make in the game, and the "CONNECTED!" message that pops up in the middle of the screen. Source Breakdown: 0:15.00 - 0:30.00 = Revelation Mountain (0:00.00 - 0:07.56) 0:30.00 - 0:59.05 = Revelation Mountain (0:07.56 - 0:37.62) 1:00.00 - 1:15.00 = Revelation Mountain (0:00.00 - 0:07.56) 1:15.00 - 1:26.23 = Tree of Life (Roots) (0:11.49 - 0:19.85) atop Revelation Mountain (0:00.00 - 0:07.56) 1:30.00 - 1:57.82 = Revelation Mountain (1:49.29 - 2:03.26, 0:31.00 - 0:35.39) 2:00.94 - 2:02.83, 2:04.69 - 2:06.55, 2:08.12 - 2:10.95 = Revelation Mountain (0:07.56 - 0:37.62) [big polyrhythmic transition/shift!] 2:15.00 - 2:36.57 = Revelation Mountain (0:48.64 - 1:14.67) [mainly chord progression, plus the lead and the accompanying arpeggios] 2:37.50 - 2:51.88 = Tree of Life (Roots) (0:33.81 - 1:29.96) 2:51.88 - 3:07.50 = Final Fight (PMD2) (1:34.06 - 1:50.27) atop Tree of Life (Roots) (0:33.81 - 1:29.96) 3:07.50 - 3:37.50 = Revelation Mountain (1:48.36 - 2:03.26) 3:37.50 - 4:00.20 = Revelation Mountain (0:07.56 - 0:15.08) ["fade-out" via reverb automation] 15.00 + 29.05 + 15.00 + 11.23 + 27.82 + 1.89 + 1.86 + 2.87 + 21.57 + 14.38 + 15.62 + 30.00 + 22.70 = 208.99/246.00 = ~84.96% ----- I'm also providing the first WIP version if you want to see how it developed! (edited to remove other WIPs, so I can save Box bandwidth) V1: https://app.box.com/s/k6jh00xqal6kh766bnfrbkodsavhrfyq

First off, I'll preface by saying that while personally I don't think it's QUITE the best track in the game (I reserve that spot for "Revelation Mountain"), I still think this is such a great track. I think someone should do a symphonic rock or jazz combo ReMix with some rad solos---maybe guitar, maybe violin, maybe both. Any badass guitarists or jazz groups out there willing to take on the challenge? Feel free to mix in "Dialga's Fight to the Finish!" if you want; that can fit as well, as this sounds really similar. BONUS: If you want me to collab, I'd be glad to, but I'm more willing to collab with someone else on this than to start this particular ReMix first.

Not that I actually want to say much here, but just wanted to point something out. 1) Your "rules" (touching spikes, etc) are more like consequences, not actual rules. The actual rules corresponding to them would be more like: "don't touch the spikes", "cherries are rewards", and "you must jump on the flagpole to advance". 2) These "rules" are pretty self-evident. If your game is played via a controller, you must hold the controller while playing. They're those obvious points you shouldn't have to explain, so are these really rules, or are they basic, self-evident requirements for you to engage yourself in a game at all? Anyways, please proceed.

Dude, this is awesome! It feels dystopian, or apocalyptic. I love that 2:38 breakdown with the reverse strings and FM textures! In the last two minutes, the way the low strings move with the background Schala makes for an interesting feel, almost like a very slow countermelody. Really evocative stuff. This is definitely your best work so far! Oh mah gawd, @Chimpazilla, @Liontamer, you guys need to hear this.

The bass is alright; it's slow, so lots of what you've written is possible in real life. It's also not often exposed, so some actual errors are hidden enough (one of them was the weird hammer-on at 0:08). Parts with the metallic percussion, like at 0:22, sounded like... banging pots? It keeps drawing my attention away from the sax because the fidelity feels lossy. The drums are audible enough. Some people have trouble with the kick not punching through or the snare not having enough "pop", but the drum mixing is pretty good here. Nice work! The piano is also slow, so like the bass, it's possible to play that way, at least until 1:44. What I'd say overall is that the part could be more interesting; maybe some soft high-note fills could help make the pacing more engaging. 1:44 was where I heard the first startling note on the piano. I'd say there, the notes on the piano can use more variation on the velocity magnitudes (especially at 2:00 - 2:01) to make it less mechanical. Also, at 2:06 - 2:10 and 2:39 - 2:41, the chords on the piano could be more "open" or "spread out". It sounds to me like you played certain chords that, if bumped up an octave, are probably harmonious, but at those lower octaves, those notes are mushing together. Likewise, the vibraphone can have a bit more variation on the velocity magnitudes to make it less mechanical. The notes' rhythm, though, sounds realistic to me. Of course, the sax is real. But I think I'm hearing you open and close the holes on the sax in the recording (0:21 - 0:22, 0:36 - 0:37, 0:58 - 0:59, 1:45 - 1:48, etc). Personally if you could have avoided recording that opening and closing, I think that would have been better. Not a huge deal, but thought I'd mention that. I did like the notes you chose to play though. The arrangement itself is enjoyable, and I like it as a general piece of music, though I'm not sure it arranges the Wily Castle theme that clearly. I find myself straining to make connections back to the original, and I'm very familiar with the original. It's partially because it's such a slow interpretation, and because you've changed some chords and several significant notes. For example, at 0:47 - 0:55, I know you're trying to reference 0:00 - 0:03 in the original, but 0:51 - 0:55 doesn't connect back to the Wily Castle theme for me. Another example is at 1:19 - 1:33, I could figure out that you're trying to reference 0:21 - 0:32 in the original, but 1:21 - 1:30 just deviates too far away from the original for me to really say that it sounds like the original, while 1:30 - 1:33 does sound enough like the original. So maybe work on not being too interpretive.

I'm always available if anyone wants me to contribute some electric geetar, synth lead/pad/bass/solo/whatever, piano, non-metal drums, and orchestral strings. And I'm game for helping with production as well. Oh, and @Prince uf Darkness needs to do something here.

The piano's pretty resonant in the intro at 0:00 - 0:25, specifically around 525 (± 50) Hz; oddly enough, it's not much of a problem at 0:12 - 0:14. Might want to check why that could be, because this problem gets pretty significant later on. Pay close attention to that frequency range on Fruity Parametric EQ 2; it's a visual EQ, so if you focus on that frequency range, you should be able to see it get bright. Brighter = louder. At 0:25 - 1:18... things get really loud. You're maxing out the limiter there, and you have overcompression (this is important). Lots of low end clutter near 100 and 300 Hz, to the point where I can't listen to it without thinking it's going to damage my ears. Try disabling your drums temporarily and rethinking your volumes. I would suggest you to not boost anything, and instead lower the mixer sliders of everything by about 8 dB, turn up your computer's listening volume a bit, mix like that for a while so that you can hear the now-quieter elements in the track, turn your listening volume back down when you're ready, and slowly raise the sliders back up until it sounds like a normal loudness for typical listening. When doing so, listen closely to try to notice whether or not there is a "pumping" feel to the track. If so, your instruments are stacking to push up against the 0 dB ceiling, and you should stop raising your instrument volumes. See if that helps. It's a bit hard to tell under all the clutter at 0:25 - 1:18, but I'm pretty sure you're using FL Slayer, which is not going to be a VST that can help you sound like Sixto; probably the closest thing to him is Impact Soundworks' Shreddage IBZ, which is a sample library that he played electric lead and rhythm guitar for. It's basically a virtual instrument that you can utilize to emulate a real instrument. It costs $119, but one might expect to spend an additional $399 on Native Instruments' Kontakt to use it; you only need the free Kontakt Player though, so... the price is really $119 (not $518). You'd basically would have a customizable guitar emulation that has the possibility of sounding perfect; the only thing you'd have to do is learn how to use it well... but you have lots of time, I think. Your drums are actually pretty good, and it's probably the best component of this track. I like the glitching. At 1:56 - 2:24, I hear the same resonance as I mentioned about the piano in the intro, but it's more significant. Finally, at 2:35 - end, we have the same overcompression issue as 0:25 - 1:18. Overall, kind of hard to say much here, but mainly, you should pay closer attention to the volume meter in your mixer and notice when it smashes against 0 dB---that's what it's doing at 0:25 - 1:18 and 2:35 - end. Also, try to use Fruity Parametric EQ 2 more. It's one of the most useful EQ plugins I've ever used, because it's visual. Brighter = louder, and you might be able to EQ some things that you may not even hear, if you're good at using it.

@XPRTNovice Seems like the latest version so far is here, recent up until Dec. 21.

I never said it was precisely the same sound. I said, "I got that by . . . ", meaning "here's my attempt". The general quality of that sound is that it's a bell sound with one octave for "body", one octave for brightness, and one octave for the metallic "sparkle", plus some reverb for ambience and delay for nuance. So, I approached making the sound thinking like that. It doesn't have to be exactly the same, because we don't know what the soundsource was. This was an attempt.

That's the same exact one I was referring to...

Well, I got that by layering three octaves. A mid percussive sine wave (for the "body"), a mid-high glockenspiel and vibraphone (same octave), and a high percussive sine wave (for the "sparkle"). It's simple to make the sine wave layers, while the glockenspiel is Ethan Winer's free soundfont, and the vibraphone is from Fluid R3 GM, another free soundfont. I played the vibraphone, then the mid sine, then the high sine, then the glockenspiel. Then, I played all of them together without any (external) effects, then with NastyDLA MKII (which I already told you about), then with NastyDLA MKII and only Fruity Reeverb (1), then with NastyDLA MKII and only ArtsAcoustic Reverb. https://app.box.com/s/p6t6zce9n6qqmxem00bkxhanlbf063fy Keep in mind that there was no external EQ whatsoever, though you should still EQ this.

This is really loud and can be reduced by 2~4 dB. It actually clipped at 0:10. The EQ is also pretty hyped up in the upper treble and it gets a bit painful to listen to. Other than that it seems good so far.

Make a link of the youtube link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLUeulBwX9eutgBkcYyR31X6Swj9iShv4p&v=nITKmpRKUEU If you want to get rid of it, you can hover over the video and click the upper-left "crosshair" symbol on the video, and then press the Delete key. Alternatively, you can click in the textbox, press Ctrl/Cmd+End to get to the end of the textbox, and then press Backspace, and that should do it eventually.

Thanks @nitrozsz for the kind words!

Keep listening. They keep coming. Try ocr.rainwave.cc.

ReForged has plenty of foundry objects sampled for Kontakt. You actually do get WAV files though, so you can use the library as WAVs. (fyi, there is a free sample provided) http://impactsoundworks.com/products/electronic/reforged-cinematic-metallic-sound-design/

You can just click Edit and adjust your post.

Made it to 57.

oh, the percussion sound that plays in place of a snare. I'm actually not sure how to make it, but it seems metallic with maybe some plate reverb (which may sound metallic sometimes) or something to match the industrial genre aesthetics. Maybe @lazygecko has an idea?

At 0:15? No, it's some sort of short sampled EDM "cheer" sound. You can't. Not in a way that sounds "great" anyways, and not in a way that can be fully described in a short, concrete manner. The short answer is that you'd need good sample quality, and the time and dedication to practice and get your sequencing skills up to par with the sample quality. You'd need an actual, dedicated orchestral sample library, on the order of a few hundred to a few thousand USD, such as East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra ($195~995), Vienna Symphonic Library (plain expensive), Spitfire Albion (~$500), and so on, and a lot of practice writing actual music. Depending on how good you are at figuring out what you need to improve on as you work with these instruments, it may take a few months to a few years. It's not easy, and it's not overnight.

Yeah, I have to say that I barely hear the guitars as well. I only hear the upper midrange of the rhythm guitars. I'll second the brass comments at 0:21; the sequencing is bleeding together, like many people are competing with each other. I'm also finding the violin at 0:43 to be awkwardly sequenced, because I can't quite tell what notes it's supposed to be playing. It's basically almost playing certain notes, and then there's kind of a change of mind in the middle of the note, like the "player" is falling behind.

1. Well, you could also listen to the ReMix for the musicality of it, without comparing to the original if you don't want to. 2. Because OCR hosts it in higher bitrate and at its original volume. And you can then bring it with you even when you don't have internet where you are.

Yeah, the vocals are pretty much in the forefront while the instruments in the background are just really pushed back, like you don't want people to listen to them. I liked your soundcloud version much better. Just saying. So you should submit that version to OCR.