Phonetic Hero

Haha, I KNEW it! Coincidentally, I just finished up my first playthrough where I actually stole something, so I picked it up pretty quickly The guitar sounds more like a banjo, I dunno if it's the instrument or the processing. Sounds pretty dull, like a lot of the higher register has been filtered out on the EQ The instrumentation is pretty good, I think the biggest problem right now is the dryness and the lack of humanization (especially on the bamboo chiffs in the beginning). Everything except for that flute (shaku? sounds great, whatever it is, nice going on that one!) sounds pretty dry, and imo this is a source that deserves humongous ambiance, it just begs for huge and spacious mixing. The guitar would benefit from some delay (I'd go with an eighth note sort of delay in this instance, but that's me) or just an instrument switch altogether, and almost everything could do with some more reverb and saturation/depth in my opinion. It sounds pretty flat and confined as it is I've heard EWQL gets some things very right, and others very wrong, and I actually think this is a good example of utilizing some of both. Not every library is going to be 100% good all the time. In fact, I just bought another orchestral library myself and am experiencing some issues with narrow use/purpose. With more organic sequencing, you REALLY have to pick and choose your instruments wisely when realism is the goal. Some of the sampled instruments will be great, others, not so much. You've got to learn to utilize what's good, and either get rid of the bad or get creative with it to construct a context in which it would fit. Honestly, in this case, I think the guitar isn't really cutting the mustard, and I'd just switch it out completely. The chiffs I think will be ok with some work, you'll just have to be careful and pay attention to velocities to get a more realistic sound (maybe some creative processing as well). They're also a prime example of something that would benefit from some delay saturation once you get the humanization down, but try to work on the humanization before doing anything else with them. I know you said you're pretty new to this stuff, so if you need clarification on anything, I'd be happy to clear up any confusion! EDIT: Ah, just read through more carefully haha. So are you planning to replace a lot of the instruments with live performances? And also, Even though your instruments may not be panned, the default "centered" position may not actually be center with some of those sampled instruments. Check the levels on a stereo meter with those drums, because aspects of them are definitely coming through more left or more right

Whoa, you share a birthday with my brother! Happy birthday man

Feedback incoming, but first things first... Your handle wouldn't happen to be a reference to Link's Awakening, would it?

I hope so, for his sake

Happy birthday dudes! It was awesome getting to meet both of you at MAGFest

Yeeeeep, once I got some space/perspective on the track, my exact thought was that the sine lead needed to come down. Ah well, glad you liked it otherwise

Dude this is AWESOME. Your drum sequencing has gotten even better too, love that dnb (also I want those samples). I think it might've been a plus to layer in a beefier snare and kick for the bigger sections, but even so, I still love the drum work. Much cleaner than a lot of your previous work too, bitchin' stuff dude

Good points, absolutely. But those late night shows aren't about the music either, and I bet the bands get paid The promotion aspect still happens for musicians even though we don't have to be there in person as well... If you're part of a label, you give them a cut and they promote the music for you. Promotion is promotion, and work is work. If you're working (particularly in your field), you should be getting paid for it. If you're promoting your works, that's sort of a different issue

Ummmm what? That's a third of America I gotta side with Will here. It's not the fact that Bruno Mars is probably doing fine without being compensated for his performance, it's the principle. The message they're sending is that art is worthless. I mean, seriously, the NFL can afford to pay 1700 players an average of 2 million each, on top of tons of staff and tax exempt status, and they can't even spare, I dunno, half a hundred thousand for a huge halftime attraction? LET'S DO SOME SIMPLE MATH!! 50k would be a fortieth of ONE player's salary. That's fucking chump change for the NFL Having the top dogs devalue our craft gives everyone else an excuse to do the same - and the performers are just as much to blame as the NFL. If they banded together and said "we want to be compensated for the work we're doing," you better believe they'd start paying the musicians. But as is common, it seems like there's always someone who'll do it for free, and it's maddening. How is no one else as irritated about this, on a MUSIC site?!

Look up jzip dude! Free and easy to use file decompressor

I always wanted to touch up my first SZRC1 track and never got around to it, so I've decided that I'm going to make this track in a similar style. But this time, I've got a much more profound love of orchestral hits and Genesis samples Also I kinda got a lot on my plate, so I'd told Matt that I might not be able to commit a whole lot of time to my mixes, but... damn it, I think my competitive spirit is getting the better of me

^^^ I'm going to cry :'(

That'd be great, actually. Just shoot me a PM, thanks man EDIT: Nevermind, we're good. Finally got ahold of him

Soooo has anyone heard from Shadic at all recently? Last I heard, I'm supposed to be doing some music for him, but he hasn't been on Skype in close to a month so I'm not really sure how to reach him

This duel will be held in Marble Square

Just had a track released from a charity project, which features lots of other artists who tool around OCR as well (DjjD, zircon, Pirate Crab, XPRTNovice, Jeff Ball). Go check out the track and the whole project!

ohoHOOOO damn!

Yeeeaaaahh! Happy birthday dude!

So I got some new stuff in Albion Vol. I, and I'm working on learning how to best use it (a bit of a steeper learning curve than I was anticipating). I'd appreciate any feedback on how the instruments sound, articulations and all that. There's a spot toward the current end where the low strings have a bit of a weird articulation, mainly because I have a ton of instruments loaded and I don't want to screw my system any more than it is already with an additional articulation layered in Still though, anything you got, lay it on me Also not sure what I should do with it. What would you guys like to hear? Build it into typical big/percussive PH, or keep it a bit more mellow? I'm kinda torn between the two, because the source is beautiful and I could honestly stand to improve my structuring with softer/mellower pieces, as opposed to building it into an enormous cinematic climax like I usually do. Any opinions on that front? Also it's kinda quiet, no mastering yet, but I've been mixing as I go so don't be afraid to rip me a new one if you hear any mud Double also, everything's from Albion except for that pluck (which is from Evolve Mutations) Remix

Edit: Nevermind, I think my desktop is just being an asshole. Sorry deeewd

Yep, there's a video on youtube somewhere with cTrix talking about the album. It's a really fun watch, I recommend it Also on chip albums, I heard this one's not ALL that bad BUT, it does have a couple tracks that lean more toward pure chip, and I know you said you weren't into that side of things

Gonna second this one. It's been out for about a month and it's already one of my favorite albums ever Keep in mind that it's all tracked on an Amiga too, with 4 channels. Four. Channels.

Oops, forgot about this. The orchestral instruments are horribly watered stuff from Kontakt Elements (out of Komplete Elements 7), because I'm poor. Getting it even to where it is right now sound-wise was a hassle and a half. But thanks dude, glad you liked it P:tMA is also one of my greatest influences, I grew up playing the Win95 version and the music has had an incredibly profound effect on me. It influences my writing and I don't even realize it, so it's cool that that's coming through without really trying to emulate the sound (though the Forest Cage source is pretty similar stylistically too)

They let YOU join up, didn't they?

WHOOOO, BIRTHDAY SEASON!! Have a good one dudes (And yes Ben, you absolutely won by about 51 weeks)