Chimpazilla

Avaris & ShaggyFreak - Wow them's two really cool tracks. And two really tough tracks to integrate, wow that Sazh theme, glad it ain't MAH THEME haha! Avaris I think you did the slightly better job of integrating the two themes, and your mix keeps me entertained until the end. I think the high lead is ok as it is. Nice kick. Not sure I'm sold on the panning hats, but I like them better when the centered hat comes in. I think you could drop out some of the snare breaks near the end, the ones that don't lead to a big climax (like at 4:01 and again at 4:30, maybe replace with a huge reverse crash?), other than that I say it's probably good to go. ShaggyFreak, those drums and ethnic instruments are da bomb, and you mixed everything really well. Possibly a touch too much reverb. I hear Sazh very clearly. But for a good part of the track it feels really empty! Huge section in the middle with just drums, no theme at all! I enjoyed it! Anyway! (sorry, channeled Garpocalypse for a moment) I will get to the next voting pairing soon...

How does one account for all the "Bronies?" Was that a marketing ploy or just a fluke? 'Cuz that's some pretty girlie material right there! lmao!

Flesh and blood everybody needs help today.

Looks like this is gonna be expensive afterall... is this a good one? Looks like it might even plug into a daw as well?

Interesting article, I read the whole thing. Interesting history of the video game industry, and about marketing programs and paradigms. I'm female and I have loved video games since Pong came out (yep, that old). I played on the first NES when it was new, and I also remember going in to work on the weekends specifically to play a forbidden copy of "Leisure Suit Larry." (not because it was sexual, but because it was just a cool game, where you typed what you wanted Larry to do at the C prompt... wow such freedom!) I don't even mind the shooting games, even though they are targeted for males... my problem arises when the story gets black and depressing like the Grand Theft Auto series. Do we really have to have a 30-something guy killing an old lady? Is that what males want? Anyway that is where I draw my line, at gratuitous human on human violence. That's where the fun stops for me.

Hey guyzzz. My husband and I are thinking of getting our son Tom a digital piano for Christmas. He is nine years old, and he and I will be taking some piano lessons next year. We are looking for a stand-alone keyboard that makes its own sounds (does not require a daw), and we don't want to spend too terribly much but it should have weighted keys, is that right? It would be great if it could plug into a daw at a later time, but that isn't super important now. Any suggestions?

Brandon, how will this work at the end of the current round? Light and Dark will each have three winners. Will you combine Light and Dark, for an even matchup? And if so, will there be a one week break while the mixing and voting catch up? Looks like no matter how you slice it, you end up with an odd number of mixers at some point... just curious. (or will you just count on some people dropping out, or like you said bring someone back in?)

Sure, why not!

We actually sat in the front row, just feet from him. He was so funny. I think it was about a year before he died. My husband and I still talk like him when it is appropriate. We will start another thread dedicated to our favorite Mitch lines. It will be funny. (please, read that in his voice ok? You did, right?) /Mitch tangent, back to regularly scheduled programming

OMG another Mitch Hedberg fan! Wasn't he the best, why did he have to go and die? My husband and I saw him live one time. He was hilarious.

This music is unbearably lovely.

Not too many people voting on this round... maybe some people will vote tomorrow?

Garpocalypse! I love this reviewing style of yours! No matter what is said! It always sounds pretty upbeat! Even when what you have to say! Is not so nice! Or that it wasn't cohesive! Or that it didn't jivemaster! Or whatever! Or if you liked something! Even in the middle! Of a sentence! Always with the exclamation points! Everything sounds so amazingly happy! Everyone should do critiques just like this! No one would ever again be upset! The world would be a better place! And thanks! For taking the time! To do a detailed review! Of every song! So nice of you!

Hey Light Bracket, how you doing?

Inorite??? Even *I* can't decide how to vote.

Happy birthday KT!

I think it would be really cool to do some kind of compo where people end up having to collab, either right away or after winning a round. Something to think about! (and yeah, you guys can see how T and I are such good partners when we collab, our skills blend really very well!)

Hope you had a great day today, Jake!

Interesting idea for another compo for another time! But yep, back on topic nao.

Yes it sure would. But it would depend on a tie in the other bracket too?

Nah, if it's a tie, our penalty should be that we have to collab the track. Eegads!

^this^ totally. Sorry if it looked otherwise! I'm gonna edit some stuff out of my post now. Please guys, ignore us and vote for the one you like!

Alrighty, then! In my track, I'm using several instances of bridged 64 bit PLAY with multiple midi-outs used in each instance, and FL gets testy when you add too many of those. It is working in this track, but only if I don't add too much more. To do orchestral right, you need to layer like 5 (minimum, probably more like 8-10) articulations like an artist to make the lines flow naturally for each instrument used. I'm using 2-3 here for each thing. Also, in FL, you write in little patterns. To do orchestral right and make it flow, it is better to write in long patterns containing all the instruments (so you can see all the ghost notes from the other instrument writing). I've kinda done that here, but it is VERY unwieldy in FL. Cubase is made for this, hence my wanting to try it out. tl;dr: doing orchestral the *right* way in FL is a bit tricky. Well ok, sure, but arrangement should take precedence. Quote from the OP: "The most important thing to consider when voting is how well the remix incorporates and arranges both themes. Production and enjoyability should also be considered." *edited stuff here* Both our tracks are pretty good. T is generally a little better at production than I am, at least this is true in the electronic genres. But these are really two different types of production, here in this compo. Also, "from the general perspective?" So, he's saying you guys have average "general" listening skills. ...but....but..."The most important thing to consider when voting is how well the remix incorporates and arranges both themes. Production and enjoyability should also be considered." Passive aggressive much? *pokes T in the ribs* Because the people voting on this are totally subjective and have "unpredictable, general listener" type skillzzz. Did you guys realize how average your listening skills were? But wait, I forgot, T is an expert in orchestral production. So tell me T, how do YOU like the view from underneath the bus??? (oh, and T and I continue to remain GREAT friends even with some lighthearted mudslinging presented for your entertainment!) *edited to remove any swaying type comments, as that was really not intended!*

Dat mah production suckzzz. I'm learning about orchestral production from a friend of mine who does primarily orchestral mixes. It is completely different from mixing other types of music, and sounds quite different production-wise. It is more of a "homogenous wall of sound" kind of concept, completely opposite from electronic mixing, which aims to separate the sounds distinctly. I think our two tracks are sort of apples and oranges, production-wise. (sorry, I know that makes it harder to compare them) I wish my violins were better humanized though, it's tough to do well in FL Studio since you need to load so many articulations and FL doesn't handle memory as well as needed for that. If I decide to submit this track, I'll probably give the humanization aspect one more going-over, with my friend's help. That said, Timaeus's production on his track is stellar, as always.

Thanks... and I'd be glad to help any way I can. It isn't easy to get orchestral samples sounding real... mine don't... not quite... and it was extra hard to do right in FL so I actually have bought Cubase so I can do it better... but I digress, I'll teach you all the tricks I know about, I'd be glad to.