timaeus222

Ohai, Damage drums. anyways: I'm actually finding the strings pretty distant compared to the drums' prominence at 0:16 - 0:49, to the point where it gets a tad muddy and wherever the strings show up again. At 0:49, I agree, the brass and strings could be more present since they're kind of pushed back by the amount of reverb on them, and wherever the brass or strings show up again. You brought a sub bass or somethin' in at 1:21, right? It's hard to hear, and I think it just adds some muddiness, so I think you should give that a look-see. I would try sidechaining the Damage drums to it, so that the bass creates presence in the low end but isn't really just there to take up space and be some sort of semiaudible padding. I like the breakoff at 1:54 - 2:18. It's very bass-oriented, and it's hard to do well. I honestly think the reverb on the strings is the only thing I would really critique in that part, but I dunno, maybe it's already partially baked into your samples? At 2:46 - 3:23 it gets pretty stuffy, and the drums get lost under the sub bass and whatever is happening with the strings (I can't hear it with these secondary headphones due to the reverb washiness). So overall, it's mainly issues with the reverb for me in terms of how present the strings and brass are, and the subby bass adding unnecessary low end mud. The sounds are cohesive, and the arrangement makes total sense and works well in isolation. But yeah, mostly, reverb and bass clutter. You might want to try this as a reference track.

I was trying to find a different thread, but eh, I thought this was interesting.

Yeah, I agree that the intro lacked bass, but if you listen reeeeeally closely, you can hear a little sub bass. Personally I don't think this embodies true trance (not that I'm complaining), and I think that helps its case. Essentially I agree with djp in that it doesn't sound as repetitive as traditional trance, but also that it was still kind of repetitive. I really loved it at 1:08 when the more texturally full pads came in (I didn't think it was muddy there, but the bass was a little thin/boomy and not so much present as it could have been). The more generic trance parts with the supersaw and such were alright, and could have been better, but overall this is a pretty nice addition to the site. I think a fair amount of people would like this.

I don't know about a course, per se, but I think looking at how zircon writes his atonal music and trying to predict how he writes it can help you to write it.

Yeah, that's absolutely right. When I hear harsh resonances, it feels like my ear contracts a bit, and tells my brain that it hurts. Even if the resonance is minor, I still feel that slight contraction, telling me that it's actually there somewhere. Same when there's a high amount of sub bass for me. And with the 'making things sound loud without actually blasting the compressor' idea, I'm sure you know that that has a lot to do with how often the peaks deviate from some average peak value and the fullness of the frequency spectrum occupied by the instruments you're using. A full spectrum that peaks at about -3 dB every few seconds is probably a little 'louder' than a sparse spectrum peaking at -0.5 dB every now and then. For example, this is louder than this, but either one has a suitable respective loudness from what I can hear. The loudness also largely depends on the quality of your limiter. Personally, the limiter I use is very forgiving on loud peaks, so I don't have to worry so much about overcompression.

Louder IS better. The louder you master, the more details you can incorporate into your music. But obviously sausagefest waveforms are terrible. So yeah, context. Only mix loudly if you can tell whether you're mixing too loudly or not. If you can tell the difference in volume at +/- 5 dB, then that's great. Telling the difference in EQ peak level at around +/- 2 dB is better (that's as far as I can hear, personally). Honestly, I would prefer mastering at -0.2 or 0 dB, just like SnappleMan, and leaving headroom if it's a context where you don't need excessive compression to make things sound cohesive. I actually try not to use master compression if the track already sounds good.

This complete.

It's an interesting concept, but the beginning sounds (up to 0:22) are really abrasive and piercing, and the dissonance doesn't really sound right from what I can tell. I think you have a few different keys going on. There's a way to write good dissonance, and this dissonance here sounds less natural than I would imagine you were intending to go for. It sounds like you mixed minor intervals with diminished scales and tritone intervals, which theoretically clashes easily, often. Try sticking to diminished and tritone, or sticking to minor, or sticking to minor and diminished. Mixing diminished and tritone is hard, but mixing minor and tritone is just weird. Worth pursuing though, but it'll take a lot of work.

Whoo! http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02061 Or try this (how convenient). http://ocremix.org/forums/tags.php?tag=winter-holiday

Yeah, that's right.

Great job dude! I agree, it definitely sounds like Smash Bros. due to the march feel and the syncopated brass.

This is not that close to a straightforward interpretation of the theme, despite how it starts. Those cross-panning and orch-hit-esque contributions make this more of a happy and prospective credits theme than a reminiscent one IMO. The random fake guitar was funny and I think it still fit in well due to the mixing. There are times where I wished the harmonies did something other than what it did, but that's not a big deal. Overall this was still a fantastic and nostalgic way to end the album!

Nice ambient soundscape. I actually think there are problems in the EQ and playing though that make it fatiguing and loud, and additionally overcompressed. The piano starting at 0:13 is grating in that it has a resonance and it is somehow sustained in a such a way that it sounds more like a synthetic FM piano, and in that sense it hurts. At 0:51 - 1:19, it's most evident that the guitar has several moments where it has an isolated loud strum, and I think it's too loud compared to the rest, which for me, detracts from the strings padding that is laid out beneath the guitar. It's also a little stiff. These two above issues apply throughout wherever they appear. At 2:18, the vocals are indeed pushed back too far, and they are actually saying something, so understanding them is important. I can't understand them. Interesting shift to metal at 3:03. I think that was well-executed in terms of the arrangement flow and transition. I do however think that there's a distinct lack of bass presence until 3:32 or so. At that point it seems like the bass just creeps in under the radar, and it doesn't feel natural to me. I think it'd be better if the bass was foreshadowing its presence more obviously. It also seems that there are vocals at 3:36 that are completely buried. Unless that is somehow what you want, I don't think that they are necessary there. Personally I wouldn't purposefully hide vocals, in any situation, even if they are merely backup vocals. Overall, the ideas are good, and they make sense in this context. You have a soundscape that is sensible and coherent, and this is a plausible approach to an ambient/metal remix. I do think though that the slight overcompression (not extremely noticeable), the grating resonant piano, stiffly-played and occasionally loud guitar, buried (unintelligible) vocals, and overly subtle bass entrance detract from this too much. I think this is salvageable, but there's a lot of detail work associated with it too.

Okay, I've sent mine in (yahoo mail, "Dungeonmans Submission").

This is approaching kind of an old-school style of remixing, I suppose. Now it sounds kind of Electro-like. Not bad. Now you're putting a nice sense of style and personalization into this. I'd watch the compression on the track overall though, since it's overcompressing and there's a lot of sub bass from the kick and sub bass. I also don't think the voice clips really fit. They just sound corny IMO, and they degrade the remix to the point where it doesn't even focus on the source tune anymore. The UG theme just gets lost in the glitching and overcompression, and this gets too liberal after 1:56. 2:20 vaguely has something UG-related, but it's really hard to discern. It finally comes back at 3:03 - 3:20, but again, obscured by the mastering. Quick source breakdown: Source = 0:14 - 0:51, 0:54 - 1:30, 1:34 - 1:56, 3:03 - 3:20 = 37+36+22+17 = 112/222 secs = 50.45% source And that's considering even the parts where it's hard to hear, so it's a stretch. Overall, this needs the overcompression fixed by getting a more tolerant limiter, and it can really benefit from some more inclusion of the UG theme. You were able to include it earlier just fine, so include more of it.

The glitch flow is very well done. It fits without being too distracting, and acts as a nice textural addition to the otherwise cinematic take, giving this a distinct style. Great pacing and atmospherics. I wonder if this might be hard to "get", but otherwise, great second mixpost!

You can still do more with this if you want the practice This may be subtle, but at 0:08 - 0:38, all the leads that play throughout that time are detached, so yuuuup, you can predict that I'll say it's fake-sounding If you listen closely, you can hear the envelope give it a bit of a repeated 'pulsing'. The detached quality is less exposed later on, but I guess the strings lead at 1:30 - 1:40 is missing a little expressiveness---a little lyrical excellence---due to its detached sequencing, too. A lot of this is great later on, and if you want to keep working on this, I wouldn't worry about the rest of it up til 3:06. That triplet... yeah, I'd change that, even though it's a neat highlight, since it sounds like three rapid staccato notes in a row, which is hard on a real trumpet. So yeah, just the detached feel of the earlier stuff at 0:08 - 0:38, 1:30 - 1:40 (I may have missed a spot), and the little triplet doodad at 3:06 are what I'd consider taking another look at if you want, seeing how long ago you made this. The scales and harmonies on this are rather unusual, but I think they work, and there are some neat tonal shifts in the chord progression too. This kinda sounds like some sort of victory march or something adventurous.

Actually, I think he meant that they achieved it in the sense that for as long as they fight for it, they are already submitting themselves to the goal of equality being correct, but BECAUSE they continue to fight for it, they aren't truly aware of this cyclic relationship, and because they aren't aware, they continue to fight for it. For as long as they aren't aware, they're stuck in an endless cycle. In other words, by fighting for equality, they've proved to themselves that equality is important to fight for, without realizing that that's what they've proved to themselves. If they did realize it, they would stop. And they're not aware maybe because of ego, or perseverance, or blind rage, or whatever guesses you may have about it. An important thing to realize is that this "equality" goal GG participants have, on either side, is perceived relative to the person. So "equality" on its own is really just something each side claims is their goal/resolve... even though their means to get to that end are polar opposites. Maybe that's where they get their idea of their being superior to the other side.

Ah, yeah! They aren't aware of how they already believe it, but in the pursuit of it, they already believe it for as long as they do so. Socrates!

It'd be pretty tough, but maybe. I think it's only been done .

Ah yes, this one is up! I like the way the sound design flows together, and you've got some good pacing. A little noodly here and there in the melody, but otherwise a solid, meditative take with creative use of sound effects!

Interesting groove. In general I think it is working in the sense that the notes create some nice harmonies for the overall body of sound. I do think it's a little empty though. There's a nice amount of bass, some center lead work, and good arp work, but it can have a pad to fill in the soundscape. I also found the panning dubstep wobbles distracting, rather than a stylistic choice, because it was panning so quickly. I'm actually not sure it fits in the first place. The soundscape gets more empty at 1:26, so that could be filled out more, similar to earlier on. Actually, similar sounds are being used here and there, so I guess my above comments apply to the whole track. So yeah, soundscape is a little empty and can use some padding, and the panning wobbles are distracting me.