Chimpazilla

"It isn't that bad - it isn't that good." Hey in my book, that's about medium. At this stage in my learning curve, if I'm getting a C+ on this song then I'm very happy with that, haha!

Hello anterroir, thank you for your review! Your comments are wonderful. Bass is there... it coincides with the kick/tom combo so doesn't really stand out on it's own... more of an accent than a unique element. Not sure if there's a better way to write the bassline for this song, or bring it out without overpowering the low end. I have the bass pretty low in volume, any louder than half and it sounded very muddy. The two main leads are separated right and left but not much (1 o'clock and 11 o'clock). I will move them more. Will eq as suggested. Snares are compressed... will compress more, and center more. Will lower the shaker. I haven't worked with send effects yet, that will be my next "lesson." (this song was intended to be a study guide for me full of lessons!) Will try to add some delays to the drums. Will work with reverb staging. I know it's not the world's most exciting song... it's a practice song for me. Trying to get my "sea-legs" with my daw. Thanks for taking the time to review my song, I appreciate it!

remix: http://soundcloud.com/chimpazilla/vine-valley-ed4 source: (song begins at 0:30)Hello! I'll start by admitting the obvious, I am new to remixing. I've only had FL Studio for 3 months. I've been studying, reading (two books on production/mixing), watching tutorials, and lots of practicing with FL. I set out to copy the song, to use for practice in every aspect of FL Studio. I added some unique elements including a nice drum beat, pad, and extra melodic elements. Please don't bust me for originality, it is still basically a copy! Also I realize it is repetitive. What I would like is a critique based on what I've done so far: Mixing: - PEQ2 every instrument separately and gently. - Mild compression on kicks, snares, and bass. - Varied velocities for humanization. - Panned some instruments left, some right, some in the middle. - Added bass "drop" using slide notes. - Used stereo enhancer on background groove. - Used volume automation on background melody, and on strings to create swells. - Used effects sparingly (one instance of reverb, one instance of flanger). - One instance of cross-panning using a duplicated portion of melody. - Carefully positioned volume of each instrument in mixer. - Main volume fade at the end. Mastering: - PEQ2 very gentle curve. - Fruity Limiter set very gently. - Created WAV version, normalized in Edison, copied to MP3. - Listened to MP3 on several different systems including car stereo. Studio monitors are Mackie 5's. (husband has Rokit 8's, I'm stealing those next!) I really want to get good at remixing. Any helpful advice is appreciated! Is anything missing? Should anything be removed? Does anything sound muddy or tinny? Is anything conflicting? Does it suck? Or does it make you feel like dancing in the jungle? Thanks in advance!

drums - agreed! Something I need to work on, gotta learn to eq properly. Drums were also repetitive. bass repetitive - yup, got me. I liked the bassline but wasn't sure what else to do with it. changing instruments for interest - busted! It's a total newb mix. But hey I'm a total newb, haha! I am just glad I could put anything together and not have it suck terribly, as I really have done no music before. I am obsessed with it though, ordered two books today on mixing, and I've been reading Rozovian's excellent newbie guide. You will definitely see more from me, as my style develops. THANK YOU for your kind words of encouragement and helpful comments!!!

Hi Rozovian, Thank you for your thoughtful reply. At this point, "pretty good" and "I've heard worse" are compliments! I am very new at this, I just got FL Studio six weeks ago, and before that I haven't made any music at all. So I'm just discovering this for the first time, testing to see if I have any potential at all. I'm enjoying it so much and I'm soaking it all up like a sponge. I will check out the resources you mentioned, thank you. As for the 4/4, there are many other remixes of this song out there, one in particular that I really liked, (and I prefer it in 4/4) so it wasn't hard to emulate what had already been done. I added my own touches. I know it sounds newbie, it does to me as well. But ya gotta start somewhere. I love Zelda songs so much, I will pick another one to remix next, and hopefully it will sound just a tiny bit less newbish. Thanks again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPCX9GQpt4Y Hi everyone! I made this using FL Studio. I'm fairly new at this, still learning how to eq and mix, and use effects. Constructive comments are appreciated! Thanks.