aur3lius

Yea, Cause she doesn't do jack. Source: Remix: Still very rough, but that's the basic idea. Just about written my way to the end, so it should be done soon. Hopefully be the end of the week.

Yea sorry, I know there's like 5 or something remixes of this song already and I hate trying to remix songs that have been done already, but well... Remix: http://soundcloud.com/marcusaur3lius/ff-vii-main-theme-wip-2 Source: The finished product isn't gonna end that way and I got some ideas I still want to implement/decent drum part to write. I really wanted to re-record the guitars at least cause I sucked it up with the chords and the buzz is killing me, but I'm starting to have interference issues again. Hopefully it'll clear up tomorrow. Side Note: I plan to try and actually submit this one when I finalize everything but I know I'm gonna fail hard at the production stage, Cause I know jack about that stuff (nothing has been done to the track yet). So I might have to collaborate with someone on that front if anyone is interested. I wanna at least give it a try first though so I'll probably do that.

I've taken a look into shielding as that seems like the most I would have control over in terms of preventing interference. But I've yet to purchase and try out anything like copper foil, which I believe is suppose to be good for shielding. As for things that cause interference, I don't really believe I have anything like that. Monitor is LCD, lights are usually off but even when they're on their really isn't any change in noise, cell phone is outta the way, etc. I suspect the wiring in my apartment to be incredibly crappy though. Not sure if it's properly grounded. Not much I can do about that though. At least, I think not. For the example I've been using, my guitar volume knob has been at 0 at the start and end of the recording. When it's at 0 the amp hiss I get seems to actually be relatively free from the usual hum and clicking/static noise I get. It still strikes me as a bit loud, but that may be just the nature of the amp sim (amplitube 3). As for pickups, I actually do have humbuckers. I've done some work on them so that I can split the coils into singles. Even when the coils are split, so long as I turn to the right direction, they quiet down. When split, they do still end up a tiny bit louder hum wise than when humbucking. Actually, I don't think I even get any hum when humbuckers are going. Either way, I suspect some shielding would help quiet down things when coils are split. Either way, I've gotten some good advice from everyone, as well as one way a person might approach working with background noise. So I'm thankful. I'm still interested in how people might or do approach this, so hopefully this thread will keep going. Maybe I'm just being too nit picky and there shouldn't be much to this issue. If it even is considered an issue. might not be for most. I wouldn't mind that being the case, would be one less thing for me to worry about.

Yea I'm gonna give a shot as soon as I download and install it. Hopefully I can also see what it does to the frequencies, if anything, so I can get a good grasp on where I can do some effective cuts. thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks for the Responses! Yea, for the example specified, I tried gating once already although I had a feeling it wasn't gonna work for me. The part is a crescendo coming and going so while I was able to get the gate to react the way I wanted at the start, as the sound tapers off the gate just really doesn't let the sound do what I feel it needs to do. I think the big thing that just doesn't help the situation is that as the sound tapers off, more and more the amp hiss becomes apparent. By the time the sound dies off by a sufficient amount, too much amp hiss has blended back in for me to try and cut it away without it being noticed. Moseph - Yea I agree that something like this is something I'd probably would never be able to completely get rid of, the natural hiss from amps and mics I mean. But at the same time that subject is such an enigma to me, because I've heard some freaking crazy clean recordings that just blow my mind at how little background noise there is. If any. While searching for a similar thread for instance, I came across a recording that someone did. I can't really remember, I think it was in some amp sim thread and the person's name was nekofrog I think. But he had uploaded a sample of a recording he had done with a recently purchased POD HD500 or something like that. Anyway, like usual, I was left wondering how the hell a person does that. I'm guessing it was some EQ thing, a low pass or high shelf like metal man mentioned. But I just really don't know. From what I can tell, by the time I start to get some decent drop in hiss volume, I'm in 2khz territory, and I feel that changes my sound a little too much. I was always under the impression that stuff like air and hiss was found at 16khz and above. I mean I don't think natural sounds from amps or mics are terrible or anything. In fact, I quite like it sometimes. Blue in Green, off of that Miles Davis album, is swimming in it from start to finish. First and last thing you hear, and it's just perfect. I love it. For the mix I'm working on though, I feel that sound isn't warranted. Although I have to admit, It's actually alleviating a problem I'm having with some of my guitar recordings. My guitar recordings are suffering some kinda interference and, I didn't realize at first, but the amp hiss was actually masking that clicky/static sound I'm getting. I might just have do a take where I record some amp hiss straight through the mix, and leave it like that to get around that noise issue. I'd rather just eliminate it completely, but I'm not sure if that's an option for me. But yea, I was tossing around the idea of just automating a slow fade in volume instead of a hard cut like was mentioned. Not sure how that would end up. Guess I should just try it. I also thought doing something like a hard cut or a gate and letting just the reverb die off would work fairly well, but I'm not sure how I would go about doing that.

Right so this might sound stupid, but its honestly throwing me off. How does one go about keeping silence and sound in check? For example, I'm currently working on a relatively clean remix. At one point a guitar playing something that acts as a transition to another part of the song comes in. and that's where my confusion lies. Now since this particular part comes in later in the song, I don't start recording from the beginning, meaning before the actually recording there is nothing there. absolute silence. When the part finally does come in, the first thing heard is the natural hum and hiss of the guitar amp (since I give myself a measure or 2 of time to get ready to play the part.). And it sticks out. Its a very noticeable contrast, complete silence to amp hiss. Maybe the start of it isn't such an issue because I can just shave that recording to the point where the actual playing starts. But the end sure seems to create a problem. After the strings finish ringing out I'm once again left with the natural hiss of the amp. And since its just a short part that was recorded, there's complete silence after it. And so it sticks out in what sounds to me like a bad way. I'm not sure how to address this issue, and so I'm wondering how other people go about this. I guess one way to do it is just to have that initial sound there from the start to end. But that doesn't strike me as very efficient. So far I have about 3 different guitar channels going, and I'm guessing having all 3 humming and hissing at the same time is gonna take away from the potential overall loudness of the remix. Plus, if there's dead silence before an instrument comes in, I feel it ends up having that much more impact when it does come in. But again, that creates that problem of contrast when the recorded part finishes. It seems to not be such an issue if the mix is busy at that moment with other instruments. Since there's more going on sonically, when the part recorded cuts to silence, that cut in sound seems to be mask by the other instruments. But honestly, I don't think I want the mix to be busy with drums or other instruments at that moment. The remix is actually pretty sparse in sound scape to begin with (by design) and I think I want to keep it that way until the end. So for those of you who record with mics and amps, how do you go about managing this?

Yea that doesn't sound right to me. I'm no wiz at audio production so you know, grab some salt, but I always understood 0db to be the point at where music would generally be the loudest. oh actually, well not loudest. It can go louder I guess. But then you'd clip. You sure you read that right?

Remix: Alrighty. Pushed it ahead a little more. I think I might see an ending in sight. Sorry about the crappy improv towards the part where the song repeats. I think I'm running outta steam and honestly....I don't know how I feel about the dam remix anymore...Thanks for the comments though! Pulled the drums back a bit..I think. Wait, Dammit I might have forgot to. Tried using some EQ and compression on the guitars and piano but I know absolute jack about that kinda stuff so I just set them to a preset. I have no clue how others get their mixes sounding so crisp and clear. Something to do with bass roll-offs and uh.......a sponge and some Arm & Hammer®? Might need some help with that. That is if this thing ever gets completed. DjMystix: Ah I believe that's also the main theme of the game. plays during that intro video before you get to the menu. Call me crazy, but I've never really been too fond of that theme. Not sure why. Although there's certain parts to the melody that I do quite enjoy. Might have to toss this one around a bit. Guess all that's left is to find some way to end it. Go back and redo everything, keeping tight with a metronome. flesh out the piano parts some more definitely. And keep working the sound scape to give it an overall fuller sound. Guitar is giving me some trouble also. Getting really annoyingly focused treblely sound, especially when I split my neck humbucker. Probably cause I never bother to adjust my pick ups after I threw in some new ones about a month ago.

Ok new remix here. Another rough one thats littered with garbage mistakes but please don't pay it too much mind. I've learned recently while working on this mix that if I stop and try to tweak or change or add a new instrument to a part here or there, I become obsessed and lose sight of where I'm originally trying to get to. Eventually, I end up just wanting to trash whatever I was working like with my perfect dark remix and others (Those who commented on it actually saved it though. I'm looking to start working on it again soon, keeping it on the back burner for now though. Thanks for all those that took the time to comment on it). Anyway the point is I'm just trying to force my way to an ending in the song. I think after I see a goal that I can work towards, I'll be less likely to give up when I start redoing some of the parts. But yea, what I'm looking for right now is just to see if i'll get an overall positive response to the song so far. I don't wanna get to the end of the song just to find out all of it was a garbage idea to begin with. And I do think i'm getting close to an ending. Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At46eoLq5oA (heh, I though it said castle >_>) Remix: (old) New Updated Remix: Your comments and opinions will be very much appreciated.

Sauce: Remix: Yea its a very rough mix littered with tempo issue plus some extra bacon with cheese, but I'm really not trying to focus on that at this moment. Everything was pretty much winged on the spot save for the guitar on the left. I'm just trying to get an opinion on the feel of the remix. Like the vibe or something. Its most likely gonna follow a similar flow, depending. Honestly this is one of the few remixes I've tinkered with that didn't have me waking up the next day thinking, "the hell was I thinking?...", but as I listened to it more to try to find a path to take with the song, I.....I just don't know anymore. It just kinda feels bland at this point, kinda like its gonna be too slow of a mix. Won't hold any interest. Anyway, thanks in advance for any opinions that may or may not be tossed my way.

ugh, Its that playing outta key stuff that gets to me, even though I like the sound. I don't know, just feels like I jack stuff up when I try going chromatic. Your comment on playing that Cm confuses me a bit though. If you play it as A-D-Eb-G, do you still consider that a type of Cm chord? well, actually I guess you wouldn't. I guess that would be a substitution of some sort. Ah and playing something like a C b9 b13 sounds like quite a work out on guitar. When you play it on keys, are you leaving out something like a 3rd or the 5th? Or are you throwing in all those suckers in there?

cool, well I got a jazz remix that I've been tinkering with. It's a very slow piece (which I'm most likely gonna change. Not really liking the pace) and I feel it could do with some decent piano playing and not the garbage I've been hammering out. Uh, I guess I should really post the source. It wouldn't really make since for you to work on this if you didn't enjoy the source to begin with. This is the song in question: And now I realize I'm derailing this topic. So to get back on, I'm curious as to what key your remix is in? I figured Bb, but you mentioned earlier that you're playing an E as opposed to that G minor. So is that an E diminished?

Hey, this is a really nice piece. Like it alot. enough so that I wanna ask how do you feel about doing collaborations? I've been stuck on jazz mode for a little more than a year now. ever since I found out what the hell a 7th chord was. Most crap remixes I try to do end up jazzy in some sort of way, but never finished. I''m wondering if you would be interested in working together on some of those. I'd have to warn you I'm a big novice when it comes to jazz playing. But I figured working together with someone would help me out in that department to an extent.