timaeus222

Hah, yeah, I hear it. Glad you heard past the tempo difference!

Woohoo, you're still here!

Pretty good foundation, actually. Pacing sounds good. Mixing is mostly there. Interpretation is pretty solid. Drums could use more variation to add to the flow of the arrangement. You're definitely on the right track. At 0:46 and 2:46, the violin could use more treble to brighten it up and a bit less low-mids to allow the background strings to come through a bit better. Right now it's too dull/muffled. The lead at 1:02 can really be more expressive; it just sounds like a basic saw wave. Give it some vibrato or filter motion, or some sort of motion to add interest. At 1:25 - 1:44, the piano really isn't that realistic, so maybe replace that with a light arp synth? At 2:04 - 2:46, it's the same deal as at 1:02---could have more expression! It's too plain! You could also add more to the impact at 3:06. Maybe a snare roll up to a downwards white-noise filter sweep or similar? Lastly, the outtro piano could use some delay or something to hide the fakeness; it's actually pretty easy to tell that it's sequenced. Offset/humanize the rhythm slightly so that it's not so quantized. Overall, the major issues for me: - Violin mixing at 0:46 and 2:46 - More drum variation rather than just glitching every now and then. Core pattern is too autopilot IMO - Mechanical piano needs humanized timing, and ping-pong delay would help (I could see a replacement sound at 1:25 - 1:44 working, but not super necessary) - Leads at 1:02 and 2:04 are too simple---needs more expression Other minor stuff but would be great to do: - Longer impact at 3:06, basically, plus a transition up to that would be good - Another transition layer at 1:44 perhaps? Not too necessary but would help - Background strings could use higher low-cut on the reverb to minimize muddiness with the bass - Bass seems pretty simple in tone, especially noticeable at 0:42

I totally read that as Millennium Puzzle problem.

I'm not saying that if I provide one, that it is necessary. It's there if someone needs it so that they know what to listen for. An interpretation isn't always immediately recognizable. There are some [to be unnamed] remixers here who may have a hard time translating someone else's interpretation of a source tune into a different key, tempo, and mood at the same time (all three of which I have done, which is why I provided that breakdown, for those who want it).

It's how Shariq feels too, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Sure, music isn't meant to be analyzed for source usage, but it is really helpful if it happens to be convoluted usage. Not everyone writes straightforward remixes, and the more interpretive tracks shouldn't be discredited if they're valid interpretations.

I figure it out after I finish writing the track, but I do it to show people what my intentions were with using each source. If I'm not even substantially arranging VGM in a VGM remixing competition, then would I really have written a VGM remix? Or would I have written an original track with VGM influences? (rhetorical)

Just a heads-up; part of my track will contain a dark interpretation of a light melody. Hopefully you guys don't discredit source usage for not being note-for-note. If it reminds you of the source, give it a chance. Both sources are in a different key than my track, and faster than my track, so also keep that in mind. As for source usage, almost all of the track contains the sources. The repeated motifs that I put upfront in the soundscape are either the Cyber Peacock or Gauntlet melodies (except for 1:20 - 1:27 in the track). Usually I have the harp/piano or a lead instrument playing the source. Rough Source Breakdown: 0:11 - 0:33 = Cyber Peacock (0:16 - 0:27) 0:34 - 0:55 = Sigma Fortress 2 (0:15 - 0:29) 0:58 - 1:01, 1:04 - 1:07 = Sigma Fortress 2 (0:46 - 0:48) 1:08 - 1:20 = Cyber Peacock (0:16 - 0:27) layered with Sigma Fortress 2 (0:46 - 0:48) [darker mood] 1:27 - 1:34 = Cyber Peacock (0:16 - 0:27) [darker mood] 1:45 - 2:08 = Cyber Peacock (0:16 - 0:27) 2:08 - 2:31 = Sigma Fortress 2 (0:15 - 0:29) 2:31 - 2:50 = Cyber Peacock (0:16 - 0:27) [darker mood] 11 + 21 + 3 + 3 + 12 + 7 + 23 + 23 + 19 = 122/172 secs = ~71%

Not going to be my longest arrangement, as I only had the first few days of the week to work on the major parts, but this is also a new-ish style to attempt for me.

http://www.cnet.com/videos/pokemon-go-nintendo-first-augmented-reality-mobile-game-tomorrow-daily-240/

I would highly recommend the BHK Rough Connections ($50 each) and Bladerunner Dread Drum & Bass ($39) sample packs. That's what I use, anyway. I used some of those in here: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03060 and: https://app.box.com/s/d7wsat6dt4dlx8ul9yjzqij3xdh3vkd9 Some basics about Drum & Bass: - 150~180 BPM - A detailed bass should act as the foundation for the soundscape and work with the drums to create a beat-driven, usually high-energy track, but not always (the drums could be non-aggressive but still fast) - Keep the drum patterns relatively varied, but still maintain a generally consistent drive Some examples of my favorite Drum & Bass: http://zirconstudios.bandcamp.com/track/the-end - cyberpunk / Drum & Bass https://soundcloud.com/zircon-1/rise-of-pharaoh-remix-of-lara-croft-and-the-temple-of-osiris - World Music / Drum & Bass https://zirconstudios.bandcamp.com/track/drum-and-bossa - Bossa Nova / Drum & Bass

This is probably my favorite remix of yours, just ever. It's got this loose, casual vibe, like the good kind of background music that while not so complex that it asks me to keep prying it apart for details, it still periodically draws my attention for a moment before I go back to doing something else---in the sense that I feel the need to keep shifting my attention toward it so that I don't miss anything. :} This definitely holds up to the caliber of tracks on the rest of the album!

Hak was going to post the log tomorrow (I have it, but let's wait ).

All y'all funk alike

timaeus222 Never Gonna Give (Up The Funk) (Gravity Beetle in Cyber Maze Core [X5]) Infinite Flight Cheat Code (Storm Eagle in Cyber Maze Core [X5]) Kuwanger's Pad (Boomer Kuwanger in Cyber Maze Core [X5]) Zero Tolerance

I think watching this video could help you improve your perception of electric guitar and have a clearer idea of what makes samples realistic. It really goes into detail on EQing and writing both rhythm and lead electric guitar parts, and covers other miscellaneous details that I also find helpful.

Yes, it absolutely is too loud, regardless of whatever headphones I use. It's not "way too loud", but it's a bit loud. I see "way too loud" as over 10 dB, btw. Reducing it by about 1~3 dB is all you need in terms of volume. Some very slight reverb to make it fit better in the soundscape would go a long way. No one said that the "standard" you cite says compressors or limiters are "forbidden". Forgive me for saying this, but you just don't seem to want to do any compression at all, avoiding it as if the EBU R 128 is some holy grail of music production. Wherever it is that you got the idea, however you got to thinking that, compression is not intrinsically bad. Not learning how to use compression properly doesn't make compression bad in and of itself. It means you haven't learned how to do it properly. That's all. Thin, as in lacking low end presence (20~300 Hz), and I strongly believe that is the case. There are multiple factors. It's partly due to your adherence to these so-called standards and subsequently making the track quiet relative to similar music (not EDM), partly due to the use of instruments that are about on the level of General MIDI (which need to have expression "injected" into them via creative processing), and partly due to not filling the soundscape in the sub-500Hz frequencies sufficiently with said instruments. No, that is not always true, and yet, your language seems to suggest that that is always the case. I don't know if it is your intention to say it like that, but saying "compression...makes..." without qualifiers is the same as saying "Any compression...makes...". If you had said "Some compression...makes", then that would have been much better. What IS the case is that bad compression makes acoustic instruments sound bad. That's all. You can most certainly use compression to control loud peaks in an instrument's performance to even out the instrument's loudness and help it to fit better in the mix. Your usage of that guitar at 7:50 does sound fake, in both the sample quality and the playing style. In the objective sense, the video demo you found showed a simplistic, limited demo of the guitar VST. It was realistically playing what it was playing, but I doubt that it is comprehensively realistic. If it truly was, the demo would have been more comprehensive in playing techniques showcased, no? All I heard was rhythmic strumming. I did not hear any indication that it functions well as a lead guitar.

I agree with Shariq; it's a really interesting contrast hearing a crazy-heavy metal interpretation in a major-key. Definitely a brutal take. Could be love-or-hate, but I love this. Wouldn't listen to it repeatedly, but would recommend.

Well, repeats are fine, but some variation on the repeats goes a long way. I find that sometimes repeats can help bring a sense of familiarity to the piece, whereas a piece that continuously changes could feel too unpredictable. If you can find yourself happy with what you make as you make it, I think that'll help you take the time to polish it more.

It's not too bad for a few days, early on in your music composing experience. The mixing sounds alright, but the instrumentation is pretty simple, and the arrangement has a bunch of looping (copy+paste). I think you could work more on having more nuance to your sounds and thinking more outside the box when writing your arrangement. It's really close to the original, and doesn't add that much new. Keep at it!

I found this to be an arrangement where you were very much in control, and this is some excellent execution. And icwutudidthar

Here are some reviews for you guys (Round 5). KingTiger ~ Es-cop-ay Great execution on the rapping; the words are clear. I kinda wish there were less words though, so some sort of instrumental portion can be incorporated that emphasized the source usage more prominently. I found the source usage to be hard to notice (and I prefer to listen to the track with the rap on it to give it a fair shake) since the rap is so prominent and busy. The production is pretty solid. Cam3 - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Maverick I actually get a spy-like feel from this, almost. Man, that kick is subby. Nice sync lead. I didn't find the arrangement to change gears that much though; to me it feels like you relied on the same groove the whole time, and so you could have incorporated a second, distinct energy level to the arrangement to give it a greater dynamic range. evktalo feat. Jorito & Tuberz McGee - Subtle Haystack Tibulation Nice ambitious arrangement. I like the varied textures you used, and these are particularly hard to mix together. Clean+distorted guitar with violin and organ... it's a bit too dense IMO, and could have used better separation, especially at 1:44 - 2:30. The frequencies just smoosh together and the harmonies become hard to hear. As a result, it was also hard for me to hear your source usage in its entirety. I still voted for this in the top 3 though, based on the pure guts you had doing it. Garpocalypse - Straight Outta RAGE I found the soundscape to be rather strange; you have a pretty upfront bass, distant padding, and distant leads. It's almost as if you were going for a chillout track of some sort, but I thought the important instruments were too distant, making the track feel... I guess, not busy enough. Try examining the amount of reverb you have on the piano at 2:48, for instance---that's a high decay time and low low-cut! WillRock feat. Jason Covenant and Ghetto Lee Lewis - Palace Of The Beast The orchestral instrumentation at the beginning was okay, but it was a bit stiff. I thought what came after, at 0:39, was much stronger. Unsure why there appeared to be so much reverb... I can hear the harmonies pretty well, but I also felt a high amount of ambience. How ironic---Will, now I'm the one telling you that you have too much reverb! The arrangement was definitely varied in energy and showed great understanding of dynamic range, so that convinced me to put this in my top 3. However, the orchestral portions and the piano part were fairly mechanical or tonally invariant, so I ended up putting you guys as #2. Props on the ambition though. Amphibious - Chiral This was a cool concept. To me it felt like glitch hop (or it could have been that). Personally I felt like it somewhat missed the mark on perceived production effort. Relative to general similar tracks, I thought the snare could have had more low-mids strength, the bass was rather plain, and the leads could have had more body. So basically, more substance to the soundscape, plz! The arrangement felt straightforward but certainly not low-effort. I think you should keep polishing this because I think it's fun to listen to. I also want to collab on this if you find the time. Anorax - Beached Whale in Miami Cool glitched drums. Man, what is with people and subs this round? I do get that watery feel you were going for, though some instruments felt rather dry and stuck out, like the bells at 0:44. Also so short! Usa - Requiem for a Reploid Woah, that first impact is too heavy. o.o And the track is quite loud, by like 2~4 dB. Surprisingly decent humanization on the orchestral instruments (although some of the pizzicato trilling was too quick to be human and some of the legato strings could have used more emphasized volume automation to increase the dynamic range a bit more). I love how expansive the arrangement is though. At 3:05, I kind of feel like I'm in a rocking ship in a stormy sea or something. Really, the main things holding this back for me were the overall volume, and the general handling of expression and dynamics of the orchestral instruments, and they weren't major issues. If you do sub this to OCR though, please fix those things! Great stuff, and voted it #1. Cash - Victory at the Palace of Rejects I do kind of get this party vibe, if that's what you were going for. You've definitely improved since last time. I dunno, I just thought the arrangement didn't have much going on. At 1:02, the melody felt rather random IMO. Keeping the whole track in a coherent key can be hard, and you are getting better at that, but there were still residual off-key portions unfortunately. At 2:09 and on, it felt to me like you ran out of ideas on a solo and just wrote something with an arp randomizer to begin with, and then wrote something to match that, IMO. Keep working at it! Ivan Hakštok - Leap of Faith Great work on this despite the amount of time you had to record/mix it. Personally I feel like this is in your comfort zone, so I just get this idea that you were playing it safe for the sake of time (which is understandable). It's why I thought this wasn't particularly stand-out relative to your other works, but it's solid work nevertheless. Straightforward rock with great solos. I can see Rock-lovers voting for this. pu_freak - Rise of the Sigma Seems you were going for kind of a dramatic tone with this. I thought the reverb amount was pretty high, and the low cut on the reverb could be higher to minimize low-end mud. The piano could also have more variation in tonal hardness to make it seem less mechanical---the timing I'm not so much worried about since you play piano. In terms of the soundscape, many of the important instruments are in the back for some reason (such as the organ and percussion). As a result, the whole track sounds oddly distant and tame when I think you meant it to be powerful and big-sounding.

Speaking of VGM arrangements (and sorry if you already noticed this and are putting it on hold or something), I actually emailed in a VGM OST on July 25 (with some remixes, but mostly original) to Liontamer's OCR email, and also PMed zircon about it recently. It's called Mega Man Battle Network Legacy: Resonant Transmissions. I was hoping either of you could shoot me an update on how far either of you got on the licensing for the album, seeing as how it's been about a month and a half and I would think that something has been done with it by now. I realize the FF9 album is coming up, and again, sorry if I seem impatient, but all I expect is a progress report.

Just adding to this by saying that F major has Bb as its single flat (the flats go Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb Fb), and so D minor would notate that as Bb as well.

...Yeah, I'll go this round.