Ethan Rex

something something uranus joke

This made me laugh harder than i expected.

Commodore just clicked in my head, I gotcha now

I wasn't familiar with the C64 synth, so that's my bad on that one. There was a small energy jump and most of these complaints are nitpicks anyway, but I still wish there had been some sort or rhythm guitar or something to add a little spice.

I'm sure the 808 is just fine with the style, I was just pointing out that it's also really similar to the FL Met sound, which made me dislike the sample choice. The lack of energy stems (in my opinion) from a lack of dynamic contrast. The intro and the main refrain at 0:17 are relatively similar in terms of musical energy; Orch stabs can have a little more velocity. Make your louds louder and your quiets quieter. Does the C64 have a pre-programmed arpeggiator? It comes across as very mechanical. The spot I was talking about was the note change at 0:50. Writing your own arps helps make it sound more organic and fit to the piece better. Hope that clears things up. And I dunno why you're putting quotes around words like refrain or isn't; it comes across as a little unnecessarily defensive and I hope I'm just reading into that too much.

NEED MOAR REVIEWS Trism: I can't seem to pin down a key in parts of this. Bass is too big and static (try varying the cutoff lfo). Some interesting soundscape effects that I like here. Transitions need work. timeaus: Things start off with pretty subtle. Not digging the met/stick click sample, it sounds like the default FL Met. Sounds are pretty neat, wish there was a bit more energy in the first refrain. Neat synths, everything sounds nice production wise. Chip arp sounds like it comes in a little early/note transitions are a little slow. SuperiorX: Things build a groove energy quick, instrumentation is perfect. Breakdowns change pace and keep things interesting. Source usage is clever. Groove on funky soul brotha. Sterling Ortiz: Also hard to pin down a key. bass is too bassy and static, and the organ needs some heavy humanization. try to incorporate transitions to convey transfer of musical ideas. soundscape needs to be filled out more. tempo wanders. Sir Nuts: Nice intro, instrumentation is nice here. vocoder and vocals sound a bit muddy, and the pulse lead was a little thin; i wish it was layered with something a bit thicker and maybe an octave down. Source usage is nice. PH: Nice atmosphere right away; this sounds like a synth naruto track. Drums are rockin like always. The flute is detuned a little much in spots, and i wish the synths hit a bit harder when they came in. The part with the DD lead around 2:16 could've used a bit more width/thickness in the bass sections, and the strings could use some more humanization. Chip breakdown is a good change-up. ParahSailin: Cool ideas, but it comes across as two different ideas instead of one single cohesive ideas. Everything is really muddy, use EQ to cut overlapping frequencies and create a cleaner mix. Bass is written too low in the Nitro man sections. Mr. L: Bass is too big and bassy in the beginning. Arrangement needs more voices to provide musical complexity. Snare needs more fundamental. KgZ: Intro provides energy. transitions from chill man to moliarty work well, I like the chord work on the moliarty section around :45. My only complaint is that the arrangement seems to repeat after the breakdown at 1:16. I have no problem with repeating musical ideas, I just wish there was more significant additions to the second section. Hakstock: Rockin energy here. Piano can be brought out a bit. Breakdowns work really well in changing things up but keeping energy. Sources are combined vertically and well, which is great props. Kick needs more punch, and the drum writing is very static in general (mix up them patterns son!) GLL: Dat sub bass. Nice gated synth in the intro, but i wish there was more energy in the first refrain. Ideas work well but stagnate a bit quickly before moving on to the next thing (maybe i'm just impatient). Chip thing keeps things sounding interesting. Source usage is hard to pick out at times, but is interp'd well. Esperado: Soundscape is really interesting here; there are some ambient noises that give this piece an Earthboundy vibe at times. In general, soundscape sounds bare and needs more/thicker voices. Transition between sources is a bit awkward. ectogemia: Everything is well placed in terms of sound. Intro tends to linger a bit before the horns come in. Scratches are super 90s and rockin, but can be overused especially in the thicker sections. Muted Trumpet sounds really nice. Transition to the outro seems a bit sudden at first listen, but after a couple times sounds fine. Listening to my track I realize I need some thicker low mid sounds to fill out the soundscape, as well as some better mixing to make the track a bit louder. I'm definitely proud of the writing on this one, which is why I'm not digging all the people saying that they skip around. I know I do when I first get the tracks, but I give each track a single listen start to end at least once; I know when I wrote this track, I tried to build a specific architecture that only made sense when listened to start to end.

2 for 2 today

this is the best birthday thread ever

Whoa, was not expecting that. All I see is Xbox Live though. Any news on a PS3 date?

Here's my breakdown: 0:00-0:14 - Intro to Darkwing Duck, tri bass has Ground Man bass source in the first 4 beats of the pattern 0:14-0:48 - Transition into GM melody in the piano, harmonies/bass play DD in the last 4 beats of the pattern 0:48-0:50 - Variation on 0:28 in the DD source 0:50-0:59 - Second section of DD 0:59-1:15 - Pattern is mainly the second section of DD but finishes out with a variation of the GM melody in each phrase 1:15-1:31 - B section of GM 1:31-2:12 - This is the most complex section source-wise. 12.5 pulse (the lower chip pluck) is playing GM bass, 25 pulse (higher pluck) is playing beginning of DD, piano/triangle layer is playing GM melody 2:12-2:16 - transition plays a variation of the first 2 bars of the GM B section 2:16-2:36 - Egredious soloing (i think i stuck a DD intro interp in there) backed by the GM B interp from before 2:36-3:07 - Same source usage as the 1:31 section 3:07 - THATS ALL FOLKS

Sent in mine

I think it makes sense, as long as it's the arranger that writes the part

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm super excited; my track is definitely the best I've written, and I sure as hell hope it holds its own this week

Your voice is so beautiful I would buy it a drink and even call it the next day. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 Happeh birfdai buddeh

you can wear pants with my track if you want but you'll just end up ripping them off of you anyway soooo

dude when are you gonna grow up and get some Beats like all the pros

More yoko shimomura? Yep. Sign me up.

I think this is my favorite picture on the internet. oh and happy fatherbirthparentday

Yeah, you're completely right on that. I just figure that giving production tips is gonna be more useful for people in future rounds then saying "man I wish you used this theme more." Source usage is integral to voting, but themes change from week to week and one source may fit better than another. a poorly produced mix will always sound poor.

For me it's a case by case basis, but it mainly comes down to one question: Is the artist that is sampling something creating something new and original from the sampled content? is a perfect example what is NOT okay. The whole song is more or less identical to No new or original content is being used with the samples in Robot Rock. It's a rehash.On the other hand, a song like takes samples from as well as many others and makes new and original content with it. This is an okay use of sampling in my eyes.

But isn't it the inclusion of "blood/guts/cursing/etc" something that helps increase the impact of these mature themes? I'm pretty sure scene (Bioshock 1 spoilers) wouldn't have half the emotional impact it did if it was edited to fit a T rating.A game doesn't have to have an M rating to have mature themes - Braid is a perfect example. But no one is saying that they do so I don't know who you're trying to argue against really

I'm pretty much at the maximum level of hype this week. Be prepared. REVIEWZ: SilvernxSP: Reverb on the bass as well as similar frequencies in instruments make the mix muddy. Transitions are awkward; work to make sure both sources are in the same key. Drum patterns get repetitive. Cash: Sounds a little bare, I could see some pads helping this out a lot. Sounds muddy in the bass range. I like when Elec Man comes in at 2:03. Some of these sounds are really pretty cool, and then a vanilla synth comes in with a lead or something which takes away from the piece. As for arrangement, there are some nice interps of the themes (like the aforementioned elec man at 2:03), but the track seems to wander on at points. Transition at 4:09 is off key. Jason Covenant: nice pads in the beginning, especially the female vocal-ish pad. Sources are interp'd in a neat way; I kinda wanna see a breakdown of the piece just to see if it matches up with what I have. Sometimes the guitars can cover up what's happening in the background, but it's a small complaint. Jivemaster: Dig the vocals. Mix sounds a little to harsh in the higher frequencies. Arrangement can get a little repetitive - the breakdown near the end helps assuage that. Obtuse: Some vanilla synths and bare soundscape detract from a pretty good arrangement. Kick needs to have more presence as well. Ben Briggs: Some naaaaasssssstttaayyyy synths juxtaposed with chiptune interludes keep the arrangement interesting. Metal Man arp can get repetitive at times, and the strings don't sit well in the mix for me when they come in; not sure if the samples sound fake or if they need to be pushed back more. Metal Man breakdown around 1:47 is really well done. KingTiger: Nice bass, but the leads that come in are really thin. Soundscape stays full and interesting, there's a little mud in the low mids when things start getting full. Transition around 1:43 is awkward, but the one at around 2:12 is nice. Things start to drag on until the synth comes in at around 2:57. Not feeling the transition after the high passed piano exits. Jameson Sutton: Nice sounds here, especially liking the sax. Hat seems to overpower it though, maybe drop the high end just a tad. Vocal lead that comes in is also jammin. Might be a bit muddy in the lower mid range, especially when that epianer comes in. Ending comes as a suprise. Orion: Those strings have a lotta low reverb on em, maybe raise the low cut on it to help the issue. I like the instrumentation, but the mixing is muddy, so it's hard to hear instruments. Panning sweep on the guitar is unnecessary. I like the woodwinds in this. Not hearing a lot of Pirate Island until the end (which seems like an afterthought), but arrangement on Bubble Man is pretty nice. Track also seems a tad long. Garpocalypse: Guitars transition is a little sudden, but it works. Nice blend of sounds I wouldn't have expected to sound nice, though the marimba/xylo sounds a tad weak. Kick is a little bass heavy and needs a little more pop to it, and cymbals could probably be a bit brighter. Breakdown in the keeps things interesting, but the pan flute could be a bit stronger. Guitar transition after the breakdown is also a bit sudden. Amphibious: Nice sounds and nice funk - i especially dig that whirly epiano thing. Breakdowns keep things interesting. Some of the synths can be a tad vanilla, but not enough to detract significantly from the mix. Hylian Lemon - piano/xylo thing that happens at the beginning can get a little repetitive, but things happen around it that help keep things interesting. Key changes are stellar, and I love the aesthetic here. Nice arrangement of both sources. Also diggin the glitches with the chips that add spice to the mix. Kuolema - Still wish the hats were panned a bit more, but you said that the thing you were using wouldn't allow that, so that's all good. Diggin the flute with the guitar as well as the general arrangement. Organ helps keep the piece interesting. Pretty nice first round, but I'll echo what Darke said about creating a cohesive piece. To add on, I'll say that I like it more when artists mash the two sources together instead of doing a "mega man, then disney" approach. Ben, Hylian, and Jason are good examples of this.

I did a take on Midna's Lament that I still love. A friend wrote lyrics for it and was going to sing them (hence the shitty placeholder lead), but mic problems on my end is keeping that from happening. Maybe a little different, but this is one that I listen to and think "no way, I did this?"

I'm remixing this week for the Robutt Masters. Time to get your groove on

Yeah, quality for volume 2 has skyrocketed compared to the first release imo. Plus I heard the artist on track 47 is a hunk