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I'm experimenting with an "electro-acoustic" cover of a song by Mr. J. Medeiros, and I'm curious if there are any vocalists that would like to collaborate. I really like his more recent song "Weight", and I've begun sketching out a cover. Here's the original: And here's a very short sketch: Fair warning: I'm not an experienced ReMixer or anything (probably obvious). However, I'd like to improve this mix and incorporate some ideas. I've already gone ahead and given the chorus to a pulse lead and plan to keep the digital and acoustic elements blended. I thought it could be fun to work with a vocalist to create a more complete cover. I'm also willing and interested in changes to lyrics and structure. Please let me know if you'd like to work on something like this. Thanks! Oh, and I'm not entirely sure this is okay to share here since it has nothing to do with video games. I'm not aware of any other awesome music communities like this, so I thought I'd try here. If this isn't okay, please let me know and we can remove this.

Thanks for the feedback! I have a few questions and comments. Ha ha, thanks. I'm actually a Scottish country dancer and also play folk tunes from time to time. The source material definitely seems to have some Celtic influence, so I figured the garb was appropriate. By roomy, do you mean that it sounds as if the listener is hearing them in a small room (reflections, etc.) or that they reach into too much of the frequency spectrum? Getting a good sense for EQ and filters has been quite a challenge! (The wind instrument with the keys is a melodica, by the way.) Agreed. As the melody moves from instrument to instrument, I think the character of the mix changes too much. I'll need to work on that.

Hi, folks. I actually shared some earlier attempts of this track more than a year ago here. I haven't changed too much since the conclusion of that thread, but thought I'd share the final track. I had to rush filming the video, so there are some minor mistakes hidden in there. I've also learned a lot about the instruments since recording the audio, especially the pennywhistle, and regret some of the flat playing and technique. That all being said, any thoughts or criticisms are welcome; I'm done with this track, but always looking to improve my awful production. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it.

Here's another, more subtle update. I think that last one was a bit boomy and muddy, so I tried to clean up the low end. I also narrowed the panning just a bit, and applied a bit more reverb.

Thanks for all of the helpful feedback, everyone. I'm sorry I let this thread die! I've put together another mix (embedded in this post). I went back to the drawing board. I applied more panning and completely changed the mastering, which ended up pulling back the middle frequencies quite a bit. I also recorded a bass track. I actually dialed back on the reverb. I'm not sure if that was a good idea, but I had an easier time mixing without it. Any thoughts on that? My feeling is that I should throw some reverb back into the mix. How's the panning? So... better or worse? Thanks for all of the help!

Thanks for the feedback. I was hoping that pulling together all of these different instruments would give the mix a "real" feeling, even if it sometimes comes from subtle errors like the tuning. Hmm, I'll see if I can make some improvements by adjusting the reverb. I'm also using a bit more compression on the master than I usually do; not sure if adjusting that would help. Great tip. I'll keep this in mind.

Amateur hour. I'm really not sure how to approach the mixing of this track. It's an attempt at performing Another Termina as a sort of acoustic ensemble, mainly using guitar, melodica, and penny whistle. There are most certainly more problems than the mixing, but right now that feels like the most frustrating part. To my ear, the melody doesn't seem to fit into the mix and feels "subdued". I've also listened to this too much, so I may just be crazy. In any case, I'm not sure how to handle that; I've tried carving some more space using EQ, but my initial attempts have gotten messy pretty quickly. Does anyone have any guidance on that? I think this track is comprised of the most recorded instruments I've ever tried to work with, and I think that's making it a bit tougher for me since the mix is "crowded". Anyway, any other thoughts, advice, or help is appreciated. I apologize in advance for trying to play the penny whistle! Thanks! https://soundcloud.com/0x000000ff/termina-5a

Sorry for posting something so short, but I wanted to get opinions on this. I really like the harmony in the source material, so I played around with it a bit and slapped this pensive introduction together: https://www.dropbox.com/s/l12ch8n7dko7hf2/cathedral-mix-r1.mp3 I'm using some heavy reverb here since I was going for a sort of "chamber" sound. It interacts a bit strangely with the close mic'ing of the guitars, but I prefer it to a more dry sound. I think the dynamics of the piano could be more expressive. Also, the piano just drops out at the end; that is not the long-term plan. I'm not sure this works or gels. Thoughts? Thanks!

Thanks! I think I've been getting a bit better at mixing the acoustic stuff I record, but I'm still not good at it in general. I'm mostly happy with how this track is sounding though. I hadn't considered "Sealed Door". I agree that it could fit in nicely with this tune. I'll have to play around with it. By the way, the reed instrument is a melodica, and I was actually stoked that I had found something in which to use it, even if it is just two notes.

Just played around with this tune last night. Maybe a bit messy, but I like the acoustic sound applied to this track: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8a24hc2hsye43xb/will-mix-r1a.mp3 There's not much more to add to cover the entirety of the source material. I'll likely just loop it as in the original with some changes to the ending. This is one of my favorite darker tunes from Chrono Trigger. I had a lot of fun messing around with it.

I decided I was more or less okay with the (minimal) percussion after many attempts at tweaking. I think I may be done with this, and though it's quite short, I thought I'd share anyway: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lxcjgetvtmmfpqj/eater-mix-r6b.mp3 As always, thoughts and feedback are appreciated. Thanks!

It may be conservative, but I really enjoy these kinds of "remastered" tracks. Sounds nice on the guitar. Great work! I look forward to hearing the reworked intro (as suggested by the video description). I think the intro sounds good as is, but agree that it may sound nicer with the arpeggio in a different register.

Okay, so I wrestled with mixing this one quite a bit. Here's a very short snippet of a take on "Snake Eater": https://www.dropbox.com/s/4j2pq4llspppgez/eater-mix-r3a.mp3 I already recorded some bits for the next part of the song (after the pause), but I've been slicing and dicing it to heck, so I've just looped the intro for now. I think I got the mixing to a decent place, but I'm not sure. For one thing, the shaker really helps fill things out, but to my ear it doesn't seem to mix terribly well. If I remove it, things suddenly sound "cleaner" or "clearer", which I usually take as a not-so-good sign. I can't often trust my lousy ears though. I really have no intuitive grasp of this at all. Thoughts? Also, I'm curious if something like this would be too conservative for a future submission. Any guidance on this? Any input is appreciated! Thanks!

I found a little time this weekend to mess around with this. Here's a sparse update to the arrangement: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4nen68z5kxin0yg/gridania-mix-r5a.mp3 I think the mixing has improved since the first version, but more insight or advice is very welcome! I managed to work in a little "intermission" before moving into the theme's second movement. I tried to stuff in a motif from Limsa Lominsa's theme too. :3 I don't intend to ever have no percussion or such a sparse sound, but I'm not sure; I actually kind of like the non-melodic passage with just the guitar and piano. Any thoughts or ideas there? At some point, I gotta bring the bass back. I want to make the second movement part sound "big", I think. I don't know exactly how I'll do that though. Thanks!

I didn't get a chance to add more over the weekend, but I did fiddle with the bass. Here's the latest: https://www.dropbox.com/s/t0u3qfnk4n5gvcy/gridania-mix-r4.mp3 I managed to compress the bass so that I only get about 0.5dB variance between large and small transients. To my ear, I'm also getting bigger sustain (stays within threshold) and a loss of sharp, crisp attack. I'm really not sure if this works well or not. After listening to it many times, I'm starting to become numb to the whole thing! Thoughts are appreciated! Sorry for the small delta.