timaeus222

Ooh, this is sick! I can't believe I missed this one. Probably coulda cut the last 6 seconds which were total silence, but that's okay.

The atmosphere is awesome in this! Loved the distorted textures, and cool time signature shift about 1:30 in.

Just the rhythm sounds like trap - the samples are acoustic, which is usable for rock music for example. Sometimes I beatbox to visualize drum parts.

Hm... on the first listen, here's what I'm noticing: The sequencing throughout is robotic because each note is exactly on the grid, and the intensity of each note is very similar. This matters because the instruments are supposed to be real. Sometimes the panning is weird. The guitar at 0:14 is on the left and then suddenly jumps to the right for example, which can feel awkward. Typically the bass and drums are in the center, and maybe the guitar could be a bit wide, but almost never panning back and forth. Although the drums sound like they're supposed to be acoustic, they are rhythmically written as if it was trap music, so it can make the listener conflicted. Those are the main things that stand out to me. I don't have much else to say because you mentioned you were relatively new and I don't want to overwhelm you. Basically, these are the key techniques I would recommend you work on: humanization - maybe teach yourself how to play a bit of piano so that you get a feel for musical phrasing. That way, you can have a better idea of when notes can get softer and when they can get louder, and also how in real life, musical phrases don't have exactly perfect rhythm for every single note. Examples: 100% Robotic Piano - https://app.box.com/s/pmwybgad4who5679p9xvuxdnnmqshas5 Only Robotic Rhythm Piano - https://app.box.com/s/lr9nxha1zbg5vfcxufqqvuiz9vjnliyu Only Robotic Intensities Piano - https://app.box.com/s/ndt9vz26mjhdul6sreqgkvf6eqlp2qfy Humanized Piano - https://app.box.com/s/jjapuupib9zfypwoew1ecr31nlq8siw4 You might notice that fixing the intensity of each note will do more than fixing the rhythms. Hopefully this helps train your ear! spatial awareness - pretty much just listen closely to regular music to spot where instruments are in space. That way you can place yours in a more conventional way so that the listener may not feel as awkward about how you panned your instruments. This is a pretty good example with lots of noticeable panning decisions: drumming style - establish to yourself what you want to accomplish with your drums. Are you writing trap music? Rock music? Dubstep music? Other? Adapt the way the drum rhythm is written to match the genre you want to go for, and choose your drum samples to match that genre.

Just something I made for fun. Hope you enjoy! Sample Libraries / VSTs used: Evolution Acoustic Guitar Shreddage 3 Precision Bass Shreddage Drums PEARL Concert Grand Neo Soul Keys u-he Zebra2

What satisfying vocals to hear! Very uplifting!

I can't get enough of this.

You can always rely on PirateCrab for headbang-worthy metal. \m/

I'm surprised there are this few replies to this. It's important to know how to mix loudly, but well. What I do is mark down what frequency ranges are strongest in each instrument (depending on the number of instruments, it may be more or less manageable), and if they overlap, decide what you want to come through and scoop the EQ for the instrument you want to bring down. I always recommend that you EQ in the context of instruments playing together, and in that case, even if you scoop a frequency range, the net result may sound similar, although a single scooped instrument may be noticeably more hollow by itself. Also keep in mind that if you overlay 2 instruments, the overall amplitude will be additive to some extent, so two instruments peaking at about -3 dB won't necessarily stack to become exactly -3 dB again because not all of the overlap cancels out perfectly. Try adjusting instrument loudness in pairs, or in combinations of 3, like this. You can do this more easily with a spectroscope like the free s(M)exoscope. So basically, keep these things in mind: - Scoop out frequencies in an instrument that is mid-heavy, and do so in context with other instruments so that you don't drastically alter the overall heaviness of the collection of sound. - Look in a spectroscope that displays your waveform to see how your instruments' amplitudes stack together, and try adjusting instrument loudness in pairs.

I hardly ever comment twice like this, but I do think this will become a classic to return to in the future. It's up there with zircon's "The End" and Juan Medrano's "The Unholy Wars".

I love that I can hear the raw clicks on the woodwinds!

Phenomenal! I love me some good ol' dueling guitars. A true Hakštokian masterpiece.

I don't hear a lot of Big Band around here, but this is really jammin'!

This is sick! One of the gems from 2021 for sure!

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My first impression is that while this has some good ideas going on, it'll take more than 1 revision going forward. I'm hoping the examples at the end help inspire you to add new stuff to this. MOD REVIEW Arrangement (Melody, Harmonies, Structure, etc.) The overall arrangement doesn't feel complete to me because at 2:06, what you have so far has me expecting a newly-written breakdown section that brings down the energy and allows you to feature maybe another new lead instrument, or just lets us breathe after already hearing the melody many times earlier. Also, the current 'ending' has no lead-in that would indicate an ending is coming. Assume the listener has no idea where they are in the song, and the only way they know where they are is by the way you write. To indicate an ending here, you may want to slowly peel off layers of instruments until the song would end. Something else to consider is that 2:06 and on sounds very similar to 0:14 - 1:06, which is about half the song. Try to differentiate revisited sections, whether you put in a new lead instrument or introduce new harmonies, etc. Production (Sound Design, Panning, etc.) The panning is one of the first things that I noticed; the flute at 0:06 is nearly 100% panned to the left, not sure why. I usually restrain myself from panning anything 100% left or right, because it's awkward on headphones if I do. As rules of thumb: A melodic instrument should be somewhere close to the middle (0%/0% L/R) of the stereo field. A bass should also be centered, as should the kick and snare in a drumkit. Chordal instruments can be wider, as well as other background-like instruments. Then, when the drums and low arpeggio synth come in at 0:13 - 0:46, they are dry, sticking out compared to the background elements like the pads and other atmospheric sounds because they probably don't have any reverb (most importantly the snare, clap, and overhead parts of the drumkit like the shaker and any hi hats you might use, because they often provide songs with life), and as a result, they don't mesh with the atmospheric background elements at all, which have plenty of reverb and delay themselves. Also, the acoustic tone of the snare doesn't seem to fit whatever feel you're going for; you might see this kind of snare in jazz/funk music for example, but not really relaxing music like what this is coming off to be. What does sound good are the dulcimer around 0:30 and the piano around 0:46. Those have a good amount of reverb/delay processing to make the soundscape cohesive amongst the more washed-out instruments. They each have a wide frequency range of around 1000 ~ 10000 Hz, which is why they are good melodic sound choices in general. In fact, I think the pads are also well-selected. Summary Most importantly, arrangement feels incomplete at the moment. Consider a breakdown section that pulls in more interesting instruments that can personalize your approach. High priority: the last 30 seconds sound very similar to the first minute, so try to differentiate it, whether with new melodies or harmonies, etc. Low priority: adjust the panning so that it's not so extreme, following the above suggested rules of thumb, like bass/drums/melody being centered. Maybe medium priority: add reverb to the snare/shaker/etc and consider swapping out the snare sample so that it fits more in atmospheric/ambient music. Possible Inspiration Ice Cap Zone (DigiE) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64bBCd8MVp8 Ice Cap Zone (Joshua Morse) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-F3DHQCIcs Ice Cap Zone (WillRock) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyfDseBXOvc Ice Cap Zone (Big Giant Circles) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3jnPQsbuag END OF MOD REVIEW

Good to see this make it on the front page! Definitely one of the more involved/evolving remixes I've heard.

Sometimes lofi music can sound forced, but this isn't that. Enjoyable all the way through!

This reminds me of a final stage theme, in the style of Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon. Awesome!

Ooh, love me some good ol' head-bangin' metal. Sick bass tone.

MOD REVIEW Honestly, I didn't have much to say, but let's see. Arrangement Seems to stick to the structure of the original for the most part, and is almost note-for-note the same on the piano and some of the choir. The main distinguishing features are the additional atmospheric elements and the elevation of sound quality. On the first listen, I do hear a good sense of progression, and a clear dynamic curve, so I think this does separate itself from the original enough, despite that. Mixing/Production Mostly very enjoyable. The only thing I'd say is at 2:38 - 2:43 you have some clipping due to the sub bass being dominated there. A suggestion I have is that the reversed sounds could take more advantage of the stereo field; they feel narrow, so maybe you could use some automation clips to pan them left and right. Overall I think this is actually really good already, and can just use a few final polishing touches. In terms of a stereo image, I think this would be good to compare to. END OF MOD REVIEW

I think the main things that come to mind are: - The melody at 0:44 is not in the same key as the chords, even though the chords are in the same key as the bass. The bass is in A minor, the chords are in A minor, and I think the melody is in Db minor, so there is a lot of clashing. - Beyond the different keys, there is a lot of frequency clashing in the low-midrange (100-300 Hz) at 1:20 - 2:04. Because of that, it sounds too chaotic and muddy. There are a few things that it would help you to work on: 1. Mixing using an EQ so that you can declutter frequency ranges that are occupied by multiple instruments at once. All you need to do is look at what instruments are occupying what frequency ranges, then decide what you want to be heard, and cut down overlapping frequency ranges until there is not nearly as much fighting. I don't know of a better example than this person's archived livestreams to learn how Parametric EQs work and how you can tell where to cut. 2. Expanding your sound palette. I didn't mention it because it wasn't the main issue, but it would be good to save up money to buy a good synthesizer plugin (like Zebra2, FM8, or Massive). I think for over 7 years I've just used Zebra2 as my main synth and it's given me the chance to practice with it and make or gather a very versatile set of sounds. What you've used in this song is just very simple-sounding imo. 3. Getting a basic grasp of music theory. Mainly, you should know what a key is (C minor? A# major? D minor?), how to recognize that two instruments are not playing in the same key, and how to identify what key a melody may belong to. Hopefully this video can help.

I don't think I have much to say here on the arrangement itself, but I will say I'm somewhat concerned that the degree you are incorporating Transatlanticism might give you issues with copyright. Maybe @Liontamer can check this out and see what he thinks. I'm pretty sure it isn't directly sampling the original, but it's closely emulating it while mashing it in. Besides that, I think the pacing is good for this context, and most of the production is already solid. Great guitar tones, and I'm not worried about them sounding unrealistic. --- I would just have a few things to say about the humanization or production. - The piano at the beginning is a bit stiff, so you can offset the start time of the chord notes a bit more to soften the attack. - The drums at 2:51 (mainly the snare) sound mechanical to me. It seems like the snare is about the same velocity the whole way through, and it sounds like one sample. I would at least lower every other note's velocity so that not every note is exactly the same. This is probably the biggest issue for me besides the potential for being too similar to a licensed song. - The part at 5:27 and on is pretty loud. Maybe it's because of the added rhythm guitars there, but the whole thing sounds collectively louder than what came before it for whatever reason. Try lowering the volume of the rhythm guitars for that section and try to match the loudness of what came right before, and that should do it. Not really a dealbreaker but I figured I'd mention it.

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MOD REVIEW As far as the length goes, it's maybe okay. We've had really short ReMixes posted before, but they had to be sufficiently evolving and feel complete despite the length, and they also needed significant personalization that distinguishes from the original. The original was mostly piano and guitar, and you at least transformed it to piano and an orchestra, so I think that idea should be enough in terms of the written arrangement. Generic mixing remarks: - I like the tone of the piano in a vacuum, but at the start it seems to clash with the pizzicato bass you have a bit further in at 0:23. Try raising the lower bound of the reverb's Damping range to be above 200 Hz. Basically, this should decrease the amount of reverb that is applying to the bass frequencies of the piano (not the same as high passing the piano sound itself). That should let the low pizzicato breathe a bit more. At the same time, you may want to slightly decrease the reverb on the low pizzicato to increase the clarity between the two. Also worth high passing the piano around 40 Hz just to remove any unnecessary sub bass frequencies. - There is actually a bit too much reverb going on overall in the high strings, so it's hard to distinguish the notes starting at 0:45. It also accidentally hides any lack of humanization that we'll talk about below. Despite the "instant playability" that Spitfire promises, you will still have to do some manual work to make them sound more realistic. Sequencing remarks: There are a few things you'll want to humanize some more. - The strings that come in at 0:45, as well as the oboe at 1:05 and the flute at 1:22 are behind because the articulations you are using are slow (a long Attack envelope). The piano is giving you the beat. Try shifting them about 0.15 secs to the right, and they should line up a bit better with the beat. - The notes on the strings are bleeding together. It sounds kind of like what they would do right out of the box without any MIDI CC because there isn't a smooth transition between notes like you would hear if they played legato, portamento, etc.; instead they just mush together. I think the "Performance legato" patches would do the job best here, but you'll have to use MIDI CC #11 to add some expression and make those legato lines evolve as the note plays so that it sounds more humanized. It'll take time to understand, but it's needed for this to sound realistic, especially on a 2 minute ReMix. Check this out if you haven't already. Minor remarks: The ending is quite loud compared to the rest. I would say to lower the velocities on the strings at 1:38 and on, and that should match the loudness of what came right before it. Adjust the piano velocities accordingly too after 1:38 if needed. --- Overall, I think the major things to look out for are: - Too much reverb on the strings, which bleeds the notes together. Piano has a bit too much low end on the reverb, so it clashes with the low pizzicato. - Strings, oboe, and flute are behind/late. They also lack MIDI CC expression and a legato feel that should be there on a melodic sequence. - Ending is loud compared to what came immediately before it, so lowering the strings' velocities there should help smooth it out. I think as far as being conservative, it might be just personalized enough mainly because the original used guitar and you used an orchestra. This being a very short ReMix could hurt you though, but that being said, short ReMixes have been approved a few times before, so it's not impossible to see another. END OF MOD REVIEW