timaeus222   Members

Why are the strings panned further left? They were fine before, position-wise (same with the harp, flute, and other breakdown section elements). And what happened with the strings EQ (especially at 1:05)? Somehow your strings got more resonant. Did you boost the midrange (800~1000 Hz specifically) on them? Like with the pan positioning, it was fine before; you often don't need to EQ orchestral instruments (if you could in real life, real orchestras would have experimented with that before ). I'm guessing your orchestral instruments came pre-panned, and maybe that's affecting your panning decisions. Also, the strings are still getting lost at 1:05 - 1:17. By boosting some of the brass' volume, the strings kinda got forgotten, I think. The clutter got a bit more overboosted at 2:26 - 3:11. You still have your previous version? I honestly think it was better before; less overboosted in the midrange and less cluttered. So far I think just the marimba got more audible. How are you making these mixing decisions? Are you listening to soloed tracks or mixing in context?

Sounds good, though I think it's coasting too much on the drum pattern. The whole thing just sounds like it's in one gear until the last 30 seconds, and it's just lacking dynamic contrast. If I skip along the track, every 15 seconds sounds the same. Needs something to break up the continuity a bit and bring the mind away from the autopilot drums. The bitcrush transitions aren't enough IMO.

Kinda wish it went more places, but after 3:00 it gets really good. I love that slap bass though.

Yep, I have a "0 warning points" label.

I just liked and then unliked your post. BECAUSE.

The problem with the guitar sample was that it lacked varying tones in each repeated note. So the way it's amplified, every repeated note sounds the same.

Janken... PAPER!

It does sound improved! It's not super realistic, and it sounds looped, but it's definitely one of the better free-soundfont orchestral remixes I've heard. As for the cymbal, I kinda wish you could have found some sort of cymbal roll to vary up the type of cymbal hits you have going on. That way it doesn't sound like the cymbalist is waltzing around playing like he/she was in a marching band. What if you just replaced the tom with an orchestral snare?

Well, right off the bat, the guitar just sounds tonally and notationally fake, quite literally like a computer is playing it. :/ The writing isn't bad, but the fake guitar is really bringing this down. It's kind of inherent in rock and metal that you need realistic guitars. They don't have to be super convincing, but they aren't up to snuff here IMO. You're hitting point #2 on this post: http://ocremix.org/community/topic/40776-mixing-what-am-i-missing/?p=785497 and points #4 and 8 in the last section of this post: http://ocremix.org/community/topic/25003-post-most-common-mixingmusic-problemsmistakes-you-see/?p=784385 Basically, you need to train your ear to pick out good sounds. I honestly think this is more of a writing issue than a mixing issue. This can't be mixed to sound like a convincing rock track because the specific samples chosen here are pre-distorted and lack round robins. An example of a normal rock track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5nMWTR7wb0 If you compare the two, it should be noticeably different on the tonal realism.

Yeah, it's definitely better. I hear more cuts were made in the bass. The bass instrument is a little clearer. I kinda get a Pokemon Heroes feel from this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld3JPWdt7JI). Maybe this can be a nice reference track for the mixing above 200 Hz. The brass is more lively than before, though the marimba and harp are getting buried. You need that detail work to shine through if you want this to sound clean. This will ask for a lot of skill to mix, for sure. If you want me to help you on this, I'm willing to accept the challenge. - This needs more attention to detail on the small stuff, like the buried marimba (it's okay before 0:31), and the 0:42 run thing with the... is that a buried harp? Hard to tell. - As I'm listening to this, the staccato strings sound better and less lofi than the other strings at 0:39 - 0:47. - 1:05 - 1:17 is just missing a brighter lead. Lots of stuff is indistinct there. What happened with the strings and the brass there? Dull articulations, perhaps? Needs brighter layers on the strings and brass. Listen for more sections like this with buried or dull instruments. - 1:40 and other places where the timpani tries to come through... it just muds up the soundscape. That's more of a writing issue than a mixing issue. Maybe you can omit a few bass notes before the breakdown at 1:41. It's not THAT bad, but it's a little bad. Also, I don't agree with Kristina there; it doesn't sound like an ending at all. There are clearly some swells on the strings to keep things going, and the drum fill worked (though the swell could be more obvious). - Good improvement on the breakdown section; I can hear the flute and brass are a little more highlighted in the update, and the partwriting is a bit more complex. - When Juan's guitar comes in at 2:21, there's a weird lack of upper treble. I know I said try cutting more often than boosting, but I meant in terms of stuff below the midrange. If you can hear the difference AND it sounds good, then sure. If you aren't sure, don't do it. I limit myself to doing only edits I can hear. It may seem self-explanatory, but some people have trouble with this. - Everything's brighter overall, which is great. I think some stuff was way cluttered in the climax in the previous version. That's kind of fixed now. The last ending note is fixed too. Overall, that was a nice update. There's a brighter feel overall to the EQ, and the partwriting came through a bit better. Could be even better though; I would focus on the places where the certain instruments or leads are not sticking out enough to be heard: 0:39 - 0:47 [strings, harp] 0:55 - 0:57 [marimba/xylophone] 1:05 - 1:17 [strings, staccato strings] 1:24 - 1:38 [marimba/xylophone] 2:26 - 3:11 [strings, brass, harp, marimba/xylophone] especially 1:05 - 1:17 and 2:26 - 3:11. You can hear Juan's guitar just fine, but all that stuff backing it at 2:26 - 3:11 is smearing together.

I'll sign up as a star again just 'cause.

There's muddiness in the bass from that... clicky percussion sound. What is that, a kick or tom drum or something? In general there's reverb washiness and bass muddiness overall, and kind of an overuse of the cymbal. Also, I don't hear any automation swells on the brass or strings. Everyone wants to play at a constant volume I suppose. It's unrealistic that way, though.

What does your bass guitar sound like by itself? It's still indistinct in the mix.

I think Shreddage X only went to drop A or something, and Shreddage Bass goes down to drop Bb. Shreddage 2X goes down to drop G, but that wasn't used in the demo.

What does your bass guitar sound like by itself? I think that's what could be improved. Maybe it's just me, but I think the guitar as-written sounds more "rock" than "metal" because it doesn't reach as low as some of the metal I listen to, and the bass guitar lacks a powerful low end. If you can get a meatier tone to your bass, that would be a great improvement. This could be a good metal reference track for this song; it's pretty similar.

Here's a bunch off the top of my head. Surely you can find ONE of these useful: Orchestral: https://soundcloud.com/stephen-anderson/i-am-the-sentinel-credits - dramatic film score https://soundcloud.com/stephen-anderson/dinosaur-dna - action score https://soundcloud.com/stephen-anderson/unity - pretty much perfect bass https://soundcloud.com/stephen-anderson/turn-my-crimson-into-white - african cinematic spiritual General Electronic: https://soundcloud.com/zircon-1/level-bounce - funky electro house/chiptune https://soundcloud.com/zircon-1/rise-of-pharaoh-remix-of-lara-croft-and-the-temple-of-osiris - middle-eastern drum & bass http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02367 - drum & bass with vocals https://soundcloud.com/isworks/celestia-terrarium-naked-by - ambient/atmospheric https://soundcloud.com/isworks/shreddage-2-nuclear-dubstep-by - Dubstep reference 1 http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02318 - Dubstep reference 2 Eastern: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02305 - General middle-eastern https://soundcloud.com/ocremix/11-tibetan-tussle-timaeus222 - middle-eastern big beat / dubstep http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02853 - far-eastern cinematic / dubstep http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02094 - meditative far-eastern Rock/Metal: https://soundcloud.com/isworks/shreddage-2-subterrenea-by-ian - Djent metal https://soundcloud.com/magnus-engdahl/wing-it - Common metal http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02293 - In-your-face rock http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02625 - Melt-your-face metal Solo Piano: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02962 - Nocturne http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR03096 - General jazz http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02954 - "Freeform" jazz

Well yeah. I just wanted to type less. Strategic typing GO!

Have ya seen this topic? =P http://ocremix.org/community/topic/37172-metal-mixing-a-general-approach/ The drums sound pretty good, actually. I'd say, try not to high pass your guitars too much. They're a little thin, but not bad. Try high passing near around 100 Hz lightly (in FL Studio, use a slope of "2" instead of something like "Steep 4" or "Steep 6"), instead of near 200 Hz, and scooping as I mention in the topic I linked.

Here's a new video with me experimenting on a few synth I got! If you're into sound design and wanna learn what makes for an aggressive dubstep bass, I think you'll have some fun with this one! Length: 11:20 Just me trying out a new synth called Serum by Xfer Records. The presets are pretty generic, but the synthesis engine is fantastic.

For some reason it had never worked for me in the previous forum version anyhow. =P Yeah, needs to be a URL. Maybe try tinypic.com?

Heyyyyy! Naw, the clicks are gone! Are those the default FL kick/snare later on? =P I think you should layer the drums with some punchier layers to rise above the deep bass, and try finding a new limiter. RIght now the whole track is getting pushed down a bit much by the limiter, at least until 1:22 (but that's because there are less elements there). I'd suggest TLs-Pocket Limiter; it's simple, but I've yet to use a different one!

Yeah, the kick's there. So you wanted a silent kick on this? What you can do is link the kick drum to the bass track, do the sidechaining you did here (choose the kick as the sidechaining source on a limiter in the bass mixer track, lower the threshold to maybe 9:00, and raise the threshold to maybe 2:30), and mute its sending to the Master. If it still sounds like this after doing that, then I don't think it's a product of your kick somehow still being audible. Can you screenshot your limiter on your bass track?

Well, first of all the initial piano, though a little thin, is fine. The drop at 0:28 came a little early for me, but it's okay. A little much bass though, and lacking more fullness in the low-mids and midrange from some sort of chordal element. By samples you may have meant the cross-panned speaking, the random interjections, and the other vocal samples. Yeah, I don't think those were necessary. They stop the musical flow, don't really add anything creative, and sound cheesy IMO. Even if you didn't have them in there, there wouldn't have been any lacking component other than the midrange and low-mids mentioned above. Overall, not bad, but it could lose the cheesy vocal samples and have a fuller midrange and low-mids (except in spots similar to 1:57, where you do have that supersaw). Everything else sounds good as-is IMO for what you were going for.

The main thing is that there is a huge lack of transitions and many sudden source tune switches, making for a definite medley. You can have a completely cohesive sound palette being used here, but it won't change anything if there aren't enough transitions and the switch to a new source tune is so musically easy to distinguish. It'll stretch ya, but I think you should work on your transitions; it's a recurring thing I hear from you, and if you can get on more solid ground with transitions, you'll be several steps forward. In general I think your production is already pretty good.